A MAN who lied that he had been raped in a Felixstowe street on his April 1 birthday has been punished for wasting police time.Daniel Schwan had been celebrating his 31st birthday when he collapsed outside the Ordnance Public House and an ambulance was called South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard.

A MAN who lied that he had been raped in a Felixstowe street on his April 1 birthday has been punished for wasting police time.

Daniel Schwan had been celebrating his 31st birthday when he collapsed outside the Ordnance Public House and an ambulance was called South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard.

His friend, Daniel Lewis, called the emergency services and said Schwan had “been fitting” when he collapsed.

Schwan initially did not respond to paramedics, when he did he said he needed an Aids test at hospital because he had been anally raped by a stranger.

When the police arrived he told them he had been walking home alone from the Band Box where he had been celebrating his birthday. He said a man grabbed him from behind, pushed him to the ground and raped him.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, said Schwan, a bingo caller, of Garden Field, Felixstowe had been examined at hospital and interviewed by police.

He said Schwan gave “graphic details” of the attack to police officers and said that afterwards the attacker had run off towards Crown Walk.

Mr Davies said: “The police were not happy with the allegation and CCTV was checked out. The time sequence when he was seen on tape left it virtually impossible for this to have happened.”

Schwan, who has a previous record for similar offending and was given an 18 month jail term for another false rape claim last year, pleaded guilty to wasting police time.

Mr Davies said the cost to the constabulary and the ambulance service was unknown.

He added: “Both services are considerably stretched at times because of the problems on our streets and the waste of ambulance time is probably more critical than the wasting of police time really.”

Schwan, who represented himself in court, said he had nothing else to add. “I want to leave it at that,” he said.

Magistrates read a pre-sentence report compiled by the probation service and decided to follow its recommendation for sentencing.

Schwan was placed on a six-month supervision requirement and told to do 80 hours unpaid work for the community. No orders were made for court costs or compensation.

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