The family of a good Samaritan falsely accused of raping a mother-of-five he gave a lift home to have blasted her for putting him through hell. 

Innocent father-to-be Salim Ullah picked up Rachael Jones, 38, when he found her drunk, crying and barefoot in the street.

She was returning home from a drunken night out with pals when she was booted out of a taxi for rowing with the driver.

He was so concerned about her distressed demeanour, he kindly stopped and offered her a ride home.

But after he rebuffed her demands for a hug, Jones went inside her home and falsely claimed she had been lured into a car and gangraped by Salim and two other Pakistani men in a layby.

After Jones was jailed yesterday for two years, Mr Ullah’s family fumed: ‘How could she be so cruel?’

After dropping her off, Mr Ullah, 33, was traced through his number plate and arrested at his home in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

He was held in a police cell for 30 hours during which he underwent intrusive examinations and was the subject of malicious gossip in his neighbourhood before detectives concluded no rape had taken place.

Rachael Jones (pictured) falsely accused a good samaritan of rape after he gave her a lift home when he found her drunk crying in the street

Jones has now been jailed for two years 

Pictured: Salim Ullah, who was falsely accused of rape 

Only his foresight in recording his encounter on his mobile phone and providing the footage to police helped exonerate him. 

The relative, who asked not to be named, added: ‘We’re just relieved that Salim has cleared his name. He did absolutely nothing wrong.

‘He just tried to help someone in apparent distress and what this case shows is the danger of women like Rachael Jones concocting horrible false stories that could easily ruin lives.’

Mr Ullah – who has reportedly moved away from Stoke-on-Trent as a result of the court case – picked up Jones on April 18, 2022, after she got drunk during a night out with friends following an argument with her partner.

Jones, of Hassall Green, Cheshire, admitted perverting the course of justice at Chester Crown Court.

In a statement, Mr Ullah revealed how her lies had had a devastating effect on him and said ‘My wife was six months pregnant at the time and this allegation brought a lot of stress to us.

‘I should have been fully there for my wife – however, we were worried about what would happen at the end of the case.

‘I was worried that I might not be there for the birth of the baby and I just feel lucky I recorded the incident.’

Saying his ordeal had left him feeling ‘violated’, Mr Ullah added: ‘I believe I was targeted due to my ethnicity.’

Passing sentence, Judge Steven Everett told the court: ‘Mr Ullah behaved in an exemplary fashion and did what many people would not have done and went to your aid.

‘Sadly the reason why many other people would not have gone to the aid of a lone woman distressed in the middle of the road without shoes, is due to what happened to him as a result of his act of charity.

‘There will be many people who will say: ‘I am not doing that just in case a serious allegation is made.’

‘Your behaviour has consequences for people genuinely in need, and you were doing a disservice to those victims who have been genuinely attacked, assaulted and sexually assaulted and are left on the side of the road and are maybe left there because people who drive by say, “I am not taking the risk.”‘

Saying it was ‘fortunate’ that Mr Ullah had the ‘foresight to record the conversation in the car’, the judge said it ‘does not bear thinking about’ the consequences had he not done so.

‘I have no doubt he would have been prosecuted for rape and you would have carried on your merry way,’ he added.

Thomas McLoughlin, prosecuting, said Jones became ‘argumentative’ during the taxi ride home and was dropped off at the roadside.

But after being brought home, she told police she had been ‘raped by three Pakistani men’ who ‘threatened to kill her if she did not do what she was told’.

‘She gave descriptions and said the incident lasted for 45 minutes,’ he said.

‘But the account given by the defendant was completely false.

‘What really happened was Mr Ullah had happened to be driving by and noticed a lone female at the side of the road.

‘He wanted to help her.

‘Concerned for her well-being he offered her a lift home to make sure that she was safe.

‘It’s the sort of thing he would wish any other person would do for his sisters and loved ones.

‘He described he journey passed with no incident, and while still intoxicated she tried to hug him and he offered her a high five.

‘Fortunately for Mr Ullah he recorded the whole incident and officers told him after 30 hours he could be released.

‘It was a very detailed police investigation that quite frankly wasted police time and resources.’

Jones was later interviewed about her account and admitted making it up – blaming her lies on being drunk.

She told officers: ‘I got myself in such a stupid state.

‘I said things I should never have said. I am a silly woman.

‘I am disgusting. I am sorry. I am so sorry.’

In mitigation her counsel, Patrick Williamson, said she had been ‘in a difficult place’.

Speaking outside court, Detective Superintendent Helena Banusic, of Cheshire Police, said: ‘There is only one person in this case who needs to apologise, and that is Rachael.

‘As a force, we have a legal duty to investigate all reports of sexual offences seriously and we are committed to doing all we can to achieve justice for victims.

Jones admitted perverting the course of justice at Chester Crown Court

Ullah pictured with his nephew. He said in a statement that Jones’s lies had had a devastating effect on him

‘In this case, following a detailed investigation officers were able to reveal Rachael’s web of lies.

‘She falsely claimed that she had been raped, leading to the arrest of an innocent man. Only when faced with irrefutable evidence did she finally admit that she had made up all the allegations.

‘As a result of her wicked actions, she has now been held accountable.’

Det Supt Banusic added that she hoped the case did not ‘impact on genuine victims of rape or sexual assault who may be fearful of coming forward’, insisting that: ‘We treat all reports of this nature extremely seriously.’