Ayia Napa ‘rape lie’ Brit weeps as expert says she could not have written mistake-riddled statement retracting claim
A BRITISH woman on trial over a fake rape claim couldn't have written a statement retracting the allegation, a court heard yesterday.
The 19-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wept as an expert pointed out grammar and spelling mistakes in the document.
She initially told cops she had been attacked by up to 12 Israelis while on a working holiday in the party resort of Ayia Napa in Cyprus last July.
The men were arrested but later freed without charge, and the woman went from victim to accused after detectives accused her of having changed her mind after having sex with the men.
Dr Andrea Nini, a linguistics expert from Manchester University, told the trial the retraction statement said to have been written by her was "not by someone whose first language is English".
Last month, The Sun revealed the grammar and spelling mistakes in her statement which included the awkwardly written phrase: "I did sexual intercourse with them".
Her joint Brit-Cypriot defence have argued the statement was coerced out of her by police and written by them while she was suffering from PTSD.
'MORE GREEKLISH THAN ENGLISH'
Defence lawyer Michael Polak said:"My client has offers from three universities in Britain, is well educated and just would not have written a statement in such pidgin English.
"It's more Greeklish than English. We say the evidence from Mr Nini supports what we have been saying all along that the statement was not written by a native English speaker.
"This is contrary to what the police say but Dr Nini was able to demonstrate to the court the wording of the statement was not structured as someone would who had English as their first language."
Prosecutors claim the teenager willingly wrote and signed the document.
But the teenager says she was forced by police to change her story with the words dictated in 'Greek English' by Detective Sergeant Marios Christou.
She has been in Cyprus since July, has had to surrender her passport, and was initially held in jail before being granted bail.
The teenager denies public mischief but if convicted faces up to a year in jail.
After hearing closing statements judge Andreas Papathanasiou adjourned the trial until November 28, when he will announce his verdict.
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The woman's family have set up a GoFundMe site to help pay the costs.
They yesterday revealed estimated costs for travel and legal help had jumped to £60,000, and have raised £42,000 already.
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