Racehorse trainer ‘coached girl, 7, to invent internet sex lies about her dad’

Victoria Haigh “caused” the girl, now aged seven, to repeat the untrue child sex abuse claims she had “manufactured” about David Tune, a senior judge said yesterday.

Ms Haigh and an “investigator” she used, Elizabeth Watson, proceeded to ignore court orders by making the “scandalous allegations” public, disclosing information which “compromised the well-being” of a child.

Watson, of Bournemouth, Dorset, was jailed for nine months for contempt of court after the hearing heard she sent council staff involved “aggressive, intimidating” emails which found their way on to websites.

She was sentenced by Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the High Court Family Division, who took the unusual step of hearing a child care case in public to make clear that he agreed with two judges who had previously found that Mr Tune was not a paedophile and had not sexually abused his daughter.

“The father is entitled to tell the world, and the world is entitled to know, that he is not a paedophile, that he has not sexually abused his daughter and that the allegations made against him are false,” he said.

The girl, who can be named only as X for legal reasons, now lived with Mr Tune and was subject to a care plan organised by Doncaster Council, the hearing in London heard.

Sir Nicholas ordered that Ms Haigh could not make any application in relation to the girl without his permission for two years.

“Allegations of sexual abuse were first made by the mother and not by X,” the judge said. “These were false and the mother knew them to be false.”

He added: “X was coached by the mother to make allegations of sexual abuse against the father.”

The hearing was told Ms Haigh had asked for help in the case from Watson, who gave her name as “Elizabeth of the Watson Family” and described herself as an “investigator”, who was a “Montessori-trained teacher” with a background in “child psychology”.

But Watson defaced copies of court orders with “childish scribblings” and “thought herself above the law”, the judge said.

She sent emails which identified parties in the case and criticised social workers and police, referring to “social disservices” and “abductees” who “snatched children” and “tortured innocent parents”. She also wrote about “nationwide child snatching reaching epidemic proportions”.

Sir Nicholas told her: “You have seriously breached an order and seriously compromised the well-being of a child. There is no question of misunderstood. You knew exactly what you were doing, writing the most aggressive, intimidating emails calling everyone in sight ‘corrupt’.

“You wrote on the court orders you were sent. That is not someone who misunderstood.”

Watson had argued that the council was not entitled to launch contempt proceedings, had described staff as “deceptive” and had made a reference to the “worst form of terrorism”.

But Sir Nicholas described her arguments as “simply wrong” and “absolute nonsense” and confirmed the council had a right to bring the case to court.

He said he had considered an option of ruling that Watson was “mentally ill” but had decided against that and had concluded that he had “no alternative” but to jail her.