A teenage girl made up a story that her grandfather raped her several times to get back at her father and his family, a court has found, finally bringing to an end the pensioner’s three-year ordeal.

The man, now 68, was cleared of charges of raping the teenager. Although there was no ban on publication of the man’s name, it is not being published to protect the identity of the girl who was 13 when she made the claims in 2012. The girl also has psychiatric problems and spent time at Mt Carmel Hospital.

The pensioner used to mind the girl for a couple of hours a day while her father, who was separated, was at work. She embellished her story with claims that he forced her to participate in various sexual acts with him.

The pensioner vehemently denied the allegations, but the police still took the decision to proceed on the basis of the girl’s statements.

However, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli ruled that the girl had fabricated the story because she was fed up with her father’s discipline and wanted to live with the mother instead.

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