Grandfather, 68, jailed for sexually abusing his granddaughter will not have his conviction overturned even though the 17-year-old now says she made up the allegation to get attention

A 68-year-old who was jailed for abusing his granddaughter has been told he must complete his 12-year sentence despite the teenager saying she made it up. The grandfather's conviction will not be quashed despite the 17-year-old girl saying she lied while offering evidence as the main witness at his trial.

She claimed that she invented the abuse in a bid for attention from those close to her but the Court of Appeal heard that she realised she had to 'do the right thing' when she saw her grandparent jailed. But judges found that the original evidence she offered at Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London was still believable, The Telegraph reports.

On Friday they said that the 'fragile and troubled teenager' was motivated by regret at seeing him jailed.

The youngster - who cannot be named for legal reasons and was referred to as 'M' in legal proceedings - first alleged the abuse in 2016.

She spoke to a counsellor when she was 14 years old, saying that she realised her grandfather's behaviour was wrong when she started sex education lessons at school in year eight.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6897765/Grandfather-serve-sex-abuse-sentence-despite-victim-saying-up.html

On the face of it the man should be freed and the conviction overturned obviously.
But I presume the original records of the trial have been looked at since the girl changed her story.
There could have been overwhelming evidence that the girl had been sexually abused, or maybe proof that she is lying now because she regrets he has been jailed.

It's proven that many youngsters who are sexually abused actually love their abusers, human beings are very complex.