A church volunteer’s life was ruined after a violent rapist falsely accused him of sexually assaulting a woman.
Victim Chris Brookes was subjected to a campaign of terror after falling out with former friend Kevin McFie.
McFie set about ruining Mr Brookes’s life after the 42-year-old accused him of not pulling his weight at an event at their Dundee church.
The rapist accused Mr Brookes of fondling a woman’s breast and she was forced to back up the claims, fearing brutal retribution if she did not go along with violent McFie.
Incredibly 32-year-old McFie’s plot worked and innocent Mr Brookes was prosecuted and hit with a criminal record.
Mr Brookes’s 2012 conviction for sexually assaulting the 22-year-old was only quashed when she admitted to police she had lied in court to secure the conviction.
McFie was jailed for seven years at the High Court in Livingston last week after being found guilty of sex crimes himself and now Mr Brookes has spoken about the horror of being falsely branded a pervert.
He said: “McFie tried to ruin my life. Jail is the only place for him. I just want to get on with my life now and rebuild it.”
Mr Brookes volunteered at Dundee’s Full Gospel Church when McFie joined in 2011.
But his life changed irrevocably when the minor argument resulted in McFie brutally assaulting him in the street.
After being found guilty, Mr Brookes was left at his lowest ebb. Shunned by the community, barred from the church and with people calling him a pervert, he was left battling depression.
The father-of-two said: “People didn’t treat me the same after I was convicted. I was like a leper.”
The woman has admitted her fear of McFie led to her making up the false claims that led to Mr Brookes’s conviction.
However, Mr Brookes is in no way bitter towards the woman who helped set him up as he knows what a terrifying figure McFie is.
“His behaviour got worse as time went by,” he said.
Their relationship was finally destroyed after a fall-out over a visit to the church by former American wrestling superstar, Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase.
When Mr Brookes pulled his friend up about his lack of help during the visit, McFie launched a vicious attack on him.
McFie’s real nature was finally laid bare by police who brought him to court on the double rape charge.