A woman who falsely accused a man of rape, faked text messages to further implicate him, and then forged a doctor’s note claiming she had terminal cancer to avoid jail time has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Tina Williamson, 28, was sent to prison for 38 months for perverting the course of justice after she accused a man of rape, prompting a month-long police investigation that eventually discovered she had lied, local outlet the Hartlepool Mail reported.

Williamson, of Blackhall Colliery in England, “sent a number of text messages apparently from the man to her partner saying things like ‘I’m sure I can rape her again,’” the Mail reported. Williamson used an app to disguise the phone number to frame the man, but police were able to link her email address and internet provider to the messages.

While sending the fake messages, Williamson also called police multiple times – including three times in one day – to report the texts. She also claimed at one point that a man in a black hoodie entered her home.

Samuel Faulks, who prosecuted the case, said in court that “The Crown say this represented a cynical and protracted series of lies which reflected a degree of planning and callous disregard for both her partner and indeed the administration of justice.”

Williamson eventually admitted that she lied, but just before she was supposed to be sentenced, the false accuser submitted two doctors’ notes to her attorneys claiming she had terminal cancer. The letters from the doctors seemed suspicious – and coincidental – so they were investigated and discovered to be forgeries.

The Mail reported that one doctor who assessed Williamson said the woman suffers from an emotionally unstable disorder that makes her act on impulse without considering the consequences of her actions. But that same doctor also insisted she knew what she was doing when she made the false accusations and forged doctors’ notes.

Annelise Haugstad, who mitigated the case, said Williamson’s lies were so obvious they would be easily discovered, but also claimed Williamson was vulnerable because she said she had suffered domestic abuse and bullying.

Judge Howard Crowson didn’t buy it, telling Williamson: “You are simply a compulsive liar.”

“Any offence of this nature strikes at the foundation of the criminal justice system,” Crowson said, adding that false accusers need to receive prison sentences to deter others from committing the same crime.

Activists consistently claim that prosecuting false accusers will deter actual victims from coming forward, but the logic doesn’t make sense. Further, allowing false accusers to get away with destroying the lives of innocent people – which happens regularly – will only send the message that it is okay to ruin someone’s life in such a way.

Women who falsely accuse men of rape are rarely punished with more than a slap on the wrist.