A prison guard who has spent four months behind bars for allegedly bashing and raping his ex-girlfriend has been freed after covert surveillance appeared to prove the woman, a former NSW police worker, had falsely accused his family of other crimes.
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The woman's new partner, a NSW police officer, may also be implicated, with court documents alleging he wanted to link his girlfriend's ex with criminal behaviour to help win a court battle over property.
The woman accused her ex-boyfriend of a string of offences, including raping, bashing, abusing, intimidating and unlawfully confining her, last December.
The ACT prison officer, who cannot be named, was charged and first hauled before court on Christmas Eve.
He lost bail in March after further charges were laid, and has now spent 131 days in custody.
But, while he was imprisoned, ACT Policing put his ex-girlfriend under covert surveillance.
What police found has cast serious doubts on her credibility. It has seen her charged with making two false accusations and causing public mischief.
It also saw the prison officer, represented by Peter Woodhouse of Ben Aulich and Associates, bailed from a NSW prison on Tuesday after an urgent application by prosecutors in the ACT Supreme Court.
The prosecution is now considering whether it will drop the case against the prison officer completely.
Following her ex's imprisonment in March, the woman continued to make further allegations about him and his family, accusing them of a spate of offences against her, including burglary, harassment, trespass, and property damage.
Police allege their surveillance proves she was lying.
One of the false allegations involved the woman telling police her power had been cut, and her ex's family were the likely culprits.
But police cameras across the street secretly recorded the woman going outside and turning the power off herself.
The woman is also accused of driving to her ex's family's house, planting a "stolen" iPad near the home, and then reporting a burglary to police.
She allegedly lied to police that she'd used the "Find my iPad" application to track the tablet to her ex's family's home.
The woman also told police her car had been broken into but not damaged while parked at the Canberra Hospital, and that her ex's family were the only ones with a spare key.
Police obtained CCTV footage they say shows she was the only one to open her car door at the time.
The woman was given bail by the ACT Watch House and will appear in court at a later date over the false accusation and public mischief charges.
Her boyfriend has not been charged.
In a statement, the prison officer's lawyer Mr Woodhouse said he was pleased his client had been granted bail.
"We are very pleased that we were able to secure our client’s release from custody today, after having served 4 months," he said.
"We call on the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring these proceedings to an end immediately."
