Woman jailed for hounding British doctor

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) A woman who hounded a psychiatrist for years, sending him death threats and falsely accusing him of rape, was jailed for 9 years for what police said was one of the worst cases of harassment they had dealt with.

Maria Marchese, 45, began her campaign against Dr Jan Falkowski, a consultant at St Clements Hospital in east London, and his partner Deborah Pemberton in October 2002 and kept it going for three years, causing their relationship to end.

''We hope that in some small way the sentence that Marchese has been given today reflects the suffering we have been put through over the last few years,'' Falkowski said yesterday.

She started by making silent phone calls and threatening text messages to the couple, before extending the campaign to their friends and family both at home and work.

Falkowski, 44, who was a keen speed-boat competitor, also received death and bomb threats linked to his boat house in east London.

Her campaign was stepped up before the couple's planned marriage in September 2003, when guests were contacted and warned to stay away, and the wedding was finally cancelled when the chef was threatened and told the food would be poisoned.

The pressure on the couple was so great it let to Falkowski, who was treating Marchese's partner, and Pemberton separating.

In January 2004, Marchese, from east London, was linked to the calls but when she was arrested by police she claimed she had been raped by the doctor in June 2002.

She even produced underwear she claimed to have been wearing on the night of the alleged attack. She had previously rummaged through the doctor's bins to find used condoms and then put some of his semen onto her underwear.

Falkowski was arrested and charged with rape but the charges were dropped before it went to trial.

In October 2005, police re-investigated Marchese and in August lat year she was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of harassment. She was jailed for 9 years yesterday.

''We deal with many cases of harassment and all are taken seriously but this has to be one of the worst cases we have ever had to investigate,'' said Detective Sergeant Malcolm Davies.

Falkowski said he was pleased the sentence showed such crimes would not be ignored.

But he added: ''It is still disappointing that the protection afforded to those that report rapes is not offered to the accused, given the catastrophic consequences on my life and my family's.'' REUTERS SY DS1015