Fantasist who lied that six men he met on dating app Grindr raped him faces years in prison as he's convicted

Liam Smith made false allegations which caused suffering to the victims

A fantasist who lied that six men he met on dating app Grindr raped him has been convicted and faces years in prison.

Liam Smith, 27, made false and damaging allegations which caused ‘appalling suffering and anxiety’ to the victims, some of whom he met on the dating app.

Several of his victims were arrested and had to go through intrusive forensic tests by police, despite having done nothing wrong.

Smith has now been convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court of seven counts of doing acts tending or intending to pervert the course of justice in relation to events that took place at various locations, including Newcastle, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Judge Penny Moreland remanded him in custody and told him: ‘I will sentence you for the offences of which the jury have convicted you, on March 22. You know the inevitable sentence is one of immediate custody and I will remand you into custody until the date for sentence.’

Anne Richardson, prosecuting, told the court during the trial that ‘the Crown’s case is that this defendant has made a number of rape allegations against various men, all of which were false’.

She said that ‘therefore he lied to the police and started a chain of investigations which were not only unnecessary and time-consuming, but which caused appalling suffering and anxiety for those innocent men who were accused by him’.

Liam Smith on Monday outside court. Smith, 27, made false and damaging allegations which caused ‘appalling suffering and anxiety’ to the victims, some of whom he met on a dating app

She added: ‘You will hear that the defendant was originally called James Robertson and some of the witnesses refer to him as James Smith. It perhaps matters little what he was called. This is not a case in which mistaken identity is being run as a defence.

‘The defendant asserts that all of the allegations of sexual assault he has made are true, save one.

‘The defendant’s case on that allegation is that although he made a complaint in the sincerely held belief that it was true. He now realises that it was in fact not true, and suspects it was part of a flashback during a period of post traumatic stress disorder from which he suffers.

‘The indictment contains seven counts or charges, all alleging the same offence – doing an act tending or intending to pervert the course of public justice.

‘The Crown submits that making allegations of a sexual nature is such a serious matter, given the damage to someone’s reputation and family life, that, if those allegations are false, the repercussions and consequences are profound.’

In 2018, Smith reported to the police that he had been raped by a male stranger in a public sauna.

In fact, further investigations by the police revealed they were known to each other, having chatted on Grindr.

They ended up in a steam room together, where consensual sexual activity occurred, but they parted on bad terms because Smith wanted to spend the night in a hotel and the other man did not.

Miss Richardson said: ‘The latter went home in a taxi, but not before the defendant had smashed the taxi window in a rage.

‘This was reported to the police by the taxi driver and the police in turn contacted (the man). A few minutes after this, the defendant telephoned 999 and reported that he had been raped by a stranger.’

The man had only been at home for a few hours when the police arrived and he was arrested for rape, when he told officers: ‘But we haven’t even had sex.’

Miss Richardson said: ‘His mobile phone was taken from him, and he was placed in a police cell, having had his photograph and fingerprints taken.’

Prosecutors say the man was suffering from a medical condition that meant he couldn’t have done what was alleged at the time.

Smith later withdrew support for the prosecution by way of a retraction statement, saying the allegation was true but that he did not want the matter investigated further and the man was told he would face no further action.

Smith reported another allegation of rape to the police in 2018 about another man.

Miss Richardson said: ‘He told police that (the man) had pinned him to a bed and raped him, despite the defendant repeatedly asking him to stop.’

The man was interviewed as a voluntary attender and denied rape and Smith later withdrew the allegation, citing his mental health.

Smith and a third alleged victim then began messaging on Grindr. Smith alleged in 2019 that he went on to rape him.

The man was interviewed by police and described consensual sex. Smith later withdrew the allegation.

Liam Smith on Monday outside court. Smith has now been convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court of seven counts of doing acts tending or intending to pervert the course of justice

In 2020, Smith went on to call 999 and report another man had raped him, claiming he had brandished a knife during the attack.

The man was arrested and interviewed by police and denied the allegation.

Prosecutors say Smith went on to make another allegation against the same man later that year.

Miss Richardson said: ‘He was arrested on suspicion of the rape of the defendant and was detained for 14 hours with intimate and non-intimate samples taken.

‘He gave an alibi that he had been with his boyfriend at all relevant times.

‘In relation to an alleged meeting at (a cafe), he pointed out that it was closed down and had been for a number of days due to Covid restrictions.’

The boyfriend confirmed the alibi and the coffee shop proprietor confirmed what the man had said.

Smith then went on to admit it was a fiction, claiming he had been delirious which had caused flashbacks to the earlier claimed rape.

In relation to another man, Smith made an allegation of rape in 2020.

The man was arrested and interviewed and was kept in custody overnight for around eight hours and had forensic samples taken from him.

Smith later withdrew the complaint, though he insisted his allegation was true.

Towards the end of 2020, Smith was interviewed regarding perverting the course of justice, abuse of the 999 system, and wasting police time.

He made no comment throughout and was released pending further investigation.

At the start of 2021, while still under investigation, Smith made a 999 call saying he had been raped by a sixth man.

As a consequence, that man was arrested and detained for more than ten hours with swabs taken from him.

Miss Richardson said: ‘Whilst the man was still detained, police examined his phone and found Grindr messages exchanged between him and the defendant.

‘However, before these could be saved via means of screenshots, and before the officer’s very eyes, these messages disappeared.

‘Given the man was still in custody with no access to a phone or any electrical device, the Crown submits that you can draw an inference that the defendant was deleting them from his own device – probably by blocking the man which would cause the messages at both ends to be erased.’

Smith, of Armley Ridge Road, Leeds, was quizzed again in March 2022 and made no comment.

Miss Richardson said: ‘As I have indicated, the defence suggest that apart from the second allegation of rape in respect of (the fourth alleged victim), which was the result of a traumatic flashback. All the other allegations of sexual offending made by the defendant are true, and he is a very unlucky man to be accused of falsifying such claims.

‘The Crown submits that here is a very troubled young man, who essentially must have real problems sifting the wheat from the chaff, fact from fiction, and that, for whatever reason, perhaps his latent desire for attention, perhaps because he is a fantasist, he has caused these six men to be arrested, interviewed, detained and subjected to intrusive police examination, resulting in them having undergone enormous anxiety and embarrassment, when in fact they are innocent men, who have done nothing more than engage in lawful, sexual activity with a completely consenting male. It is for you to decide.’