Judge Ian Pearson told Louise Ndikum her bogus rape allegation had left an innocent man 'humiliated, anxious and worried'.

And he said that her lies would deter women who really had been raped from coming forward.

Judge Pearson added: 'An offence of this kind will make women despair who have actually been raped.

'It will undermine their confidence in the justice system.

'And it will also enable defendants to say that fabrication of this kind is widespread when it is not.'

Judge Pearson imposed a 52-week prison sentence suspended for two years on Ndikum and ordered her to complete 250 hours' unpaid work for the community.

He said: 'You are the sole carer for two children and as an act of mercy, and with a great deal of hesitation, I have decided to suspend the sentence.'

Ndikum, 23, spun police a web of lies that ended up with an innocent student, Alexesi Chua, having to appear in court.

Initially she claimed she had been raped in the street by a stranger.

But when she was confronted by detectives she changed her story and said the man had raped her in his house.

Mr Chua, a University of Portsmouth student, was arrested on June 12, last year, and held in custody for a short time.

He said he met Ndikum as he walked home on June 1, last year.

He responded to a wolf whistle from a garden, spoke to Ndikum and a friend, and gave her is mobile number.

Later that day the pair met up and went back to Mr Chua's house.

He maintained they had consensual sex and denied raping her.

After a hearing to determine the truth at Portsmouth Crown Court, Judge Pearson concluded that Mr Chua was entirely innocent.

He said he did not find Ndikum's account of events credible.

Ndikum, of Horatio House, Meriden Road, Southsea, admitted one count of perverting the course of justice.