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A 23-year-old woman who stabbed herself on two separate occasions in a sustained attempt to frame a man she knew has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. Courtney Clapham, of Wallis Road in Louth, North Lincolnshire, appeared at Grimsby Crown Court on Friday 30 October 2026, where she pleaded guilty to three counts of perverting the course of justice. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands that Clapham, formerly of Newport Walk in Immingham, spent three years making malicious calls to Humberside Police under false names, accusing the man of serious sexual offences—including sexually assaulting her and raping a child—before escalating her campaign by inflicting knife wounds on her own body and blaming him.
The sentencing brings to a close an extraordinary case that has raised profound questions about the recognition of male victims of domestic abuse and the damage caused by false allegations to the integrity of the justice system. His Honour Judge Gurdial Singh, sitting at Grimsby Crown Court, branded Clapham "an utterly manipulative, wicked young woman" who told "evil lies" and went to the extreme length of stabbing herself to lend credibility to her fabrication.
The court heard that Clapham was working as a barmaid when she first encountered the complainant, and that their relationship eventually deteriorated. Prosecuting barrister Katherine White told the court that Clapham sent police photographs of bruised arms and cuts to her legs, claiming they had been inflicted by the man, and on one occasion contacted officers using somebody else's name to allege that he had raped a young girl. The man was immediately arrested, and officers attended the home of the woman whose identity Clapham had used; the girl was subsequently interviewed by police while social services became involved and spoke with the man's family. He was released on bail.
Clapham's deception reached its most grave point when she rang for an ambulance claiming she had been stabbed. Paramedics arrived to find her bleeding from her thigh with the knife still embedded in the wound, and Clapham told officers that the man had carried out the attack. She pressured a friend into providing a false witness statement corroborating her account, and the man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. Within days, another call was made alleging that Clapham had once again been stabbed by the man, this time in her calf. Officers arrived to find her with a knife protruding from her leg and observed her laughing and joking, showing no signs of distress. The man was again arrested, charged, and remanded in custody to appear before Grimsby Magistrates' Court, before subsequent CCTV enquiries confirmed his account that he had been at home throughout the day and he was released.
In his victim impact statement, the man described the devastating and lasting impact of Clapham's allegations. "It was not just malicious, it was life-ruining," he said. Daily Dazzling Dawn learned that he told the court he had only survived the ordeal thanks to loyal friends who supported him, and that "the dark cloud" had at last lifted. In a statement released after sentencing, he said: "Courtney nearly accomplished ruining my life; which I find myself still trying to piece together, even now. She has continuously lied about me, and absolutely nothing she has reported has been even a fraction of truth. She plastered all of these allegations over social media too, and I am still having to pick up the pieces of myself. I'm trying to rebuild my life, and I find it difficult to trust people due to what I have been through. I never hurt or abused her, but she made me out to be a monster, when all along, she was one."
Representing Clapham, Natalie Dean explained that her client had been diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder by a psychiatrist, and noted that she was merely 20 years old at the time of the offending. Judge Singh, however, was unsparing in his condemnation. "You are a fantasist capable of making evil lies and prepared to make allegations that destroy their lives. It is utterly wicked," he said. He added that the false accusations harmed not only the individual but also undermined the justice system, and told Clapham: "You designed those consequences to come to pass".
Leading the investigation from Humberside Police's Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding Investigation Team was Detective Sergeant Eve Tansley, who described the man's experience as "the most excruciating and harrowing ordeal" and Clapham as "a devious woman who fabricated a web of evil lies in an attempt to manipulate the system and see the man suffer". She commended the man for working alongside police to provide evidence and attending court on numerous occasions, having to relive what had happened to him over a prolonged period. DS Tansley also stressed the importance of recognising male victims of domestic abuse, emphasising that abuse can affect anyone regardless of age, sexual orientation, gender, background, or religion, and that police must continue to raise awareness and give men who are victims a voice.
The case has also highlighted the collateral damage caused by false allegations to genuine victims. DS Tansley acknowledged that allegations of this nature, when falsely made, can have a detrimental impact on genuine victims coming forward, and offered assurance that Humberside Police will always take reports of this type of crime seriously and treat them with the utmost priority. She added: "I want to send a clear message that blatantly lying and making such horrific and damaging allegations has consequences, and we will always take robust action to bring those responsible for such behaviour to justice".
Clapham was jailed for three years and nine months and was also handed a ten-year restraining order protecting the man, prohibiting any direct or indirect contact. The sentence reflects the gravity with which the courts treat the perversion of the course of justice, particularly where it involves the fabrication of serious sexual offences and the deliberate infliction of injury to substantiate a lie. No further details of Clapham's family background or personal circumstances beyond her former address in Immingham and her occupation as a barmaid were disclosed in open court. The man said he felt relieved that Clapham had finally admitted her actions and hoped the conclusion of the case would allow him to begin rebuilding his life.
