A WOMAN who undermined the criminal justice system by making a series of false rape allegations against former boyfriends has been jailed.

Leanne Black, 32, of Leadon Court, Thornhill, Cwmbran, repeatedly fabricated rape stories over an eight-year period, Newport Crown Court heard.

In one case, Black claimed she had been drugged and raped and in another kidnapped before being molested, the court heard yesterday.

Her partners would have been been jailed for up to five years if they had been found guilty of rape, the court was told.

Boyfriend Kevin Crowley was held on suspicion of rape in March this year after he called police to report she had thrown things at him inside his flat, the court was told.

Judge William Gaskell jailed her for two years yesterday after she admitted one count of perverting the course of justice against Mr Crowley.

He told her: "Police have to take all allegations of rape very seriously.

"Rape, when it happens, has a devastating effect for victims and causes great trauma.

"Many women never get over it.

"Women who make false allegations like you undermine the whole system and police investigations.

"It undermines the public's belief in the truth when allegations are truthfully made."

The court heard she had 77 previous convictions including for shoplifting and had made repeated false allegations against men since 2005: * On March 1, 2013, she said Kevin Crowley had raped her while she slept at his flat.

* In 2010, she fabricated a story about being drugged and raped.

* In 2009, she said she had been the victim of a serious sexual assault.

* In July 2006, she accused her then partner of raping her twice and claimed she had been kidnapped and raped.

* In June 2005, she made a rape allegation but the case did not proceed.

Gareth Driscoll, for Black, stressed that she had entered an early guilty plea to perverting the course of justice and had made a full and frank admission of the facts in a recorded interview.

Judge Gaskell told her she would serve half her two-year sentence before being released on licence and ordered her to pay a £100 surcharge.

'Sentence is a warning'

Gwent Police Insp Rory Waring said after the hearing: "Today's sentence should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of making false allegations of rape.

"As well as causing distress to innocent people accused of this terrible crime, cases like this distract officers from supporting real victims and prosecuting real offenders.

"Those who have suffered from genuine offences are also undermined."