A woman who admitted wasting police time after lying about a threesome with a married couple wants to change her plea – amid claims she has a rare “language disorder”.
Hannah McWhirter, 21, of Banff, engaged in a midnight menage-a-trois with co-worker Dionne Clark and her husband Shaun in a city hotel.
But when her boyfriend found out about the betrayal she went to the police and claimed she had been raped by the couple.
McWhirter later admitted wasting police time with false rape claims when she appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in April.
But her solicitor withdrew from acting on her behalf on the date she was due to be sentenced because she claimed she was innocent in a background social work report ordered by the court.
McWhirter appeared at the court again today with fresh legal representation and the lawyer claimed she was suffering from a “semantic pragmatic disorder” affecting her use and understanding of language.
Defence solicitor Ian Houston claimed that his client may have “unknowingly or unwittingly” pleaded guilty to wasting police time.
And he admitted he had been put in a “difficult position” due to the content of the report into his client’s wellbeing.
Mr Houston said: “It is clear that this young woman has some communications difficulties.
“She has a severe language disorder.”
Mr Houston said his client wanted to withdraw her guilty plea and said that the Scottish Legal Aid Board had sanctioned a supplementary psychologist report in an attempt to back up her claims.
But the defence agent said that it may take some time to identify someone with the requisite knowledge of her “rare” condition to provide an expert opinion.
He added that his client may have to travel to England in order to get access to someone familiar with the symptoms.
Sheriff Graeme Buchanan said he was bound by the sanction of the legal aid board to continue the case for additional reports.
And he said the case might have to be dealt with in the sheriff court and then an appeal lodged against the conviction at High Court.
The court heard previously that McWhirter had become close friends with Mrs Clark, 29, after starting work in the same shop in January 2013.
Over time Mrs Clark introduced the young woman to her 35-year-old husband Shaun and they all grew close – eventually discussing having a threesome in a hotel.
The court heard that on July 13, 2013, the three met up and engaged in a night of passion in a Travelodge in Aberdeen.
At the time McWhirter’s boyfriend was on a night out, oblivious to what was going on.
But around a month later Mr Clark informed McWhirter’s boyfriend of the threesome.
She initially denied the incident but then, when the police became involved, she claimed she had been raped after going to the Clarks’ hotel room to use the bathroom after a night out with other friends.
The Clarks were later interviewed under caution by police.
However, McWhirter’s friends did not back up her story about being on a night out.
And after a mobile phone analysis in November 2013, McWhirter admitted she had been a willing participant.
The case will call again later this year.