Girl suffers false burglary probe

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A woman was accused of burgling a colleague's house after police found her fingerprints on a wedding card she had signed at work.

Alysha Wilson, of Salford, was arrested at her workplace by police last year and later charged with burglary.

But last week the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence and the case was formally dropped.

Ms Wilson, 19, said she had been left traumatised by the accusation. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has apologised.

The teenager was arrested in front of her office colleagues and accused of breaking into a colleague's home when she was on holiday.

Officers said the evidence was fingerprints found on items taken away from the house.

This kind of error is extremely rare and unacceptable and we are, of course, sorry that the woman was put into this dreadful situation GMP statement

Ms Wilson always insisted she had done nothing wrong and the case was formally dismissed last week.

"It has been traumatic, a really bad time of my life, I don't think that I'll ever get over it," she told the BBC.

"I just knew that someone had made a mistake somewhere but I couldn't say what mistake they'd made because I didn't know myself.

"I am just so happy now that it has come to light what the truth was behind it and why, otherwise I would have been another person on a list and being named a criminal.

"Being put in a police cell is not nice for anyone."

Wedding card

The error came to light when her solicitor Stuart Page insisted independent forensic experts examined the evidence.

"In fact it was the case that her fingerprints were found on a wedding card which had been presented to the victim by all of the staff in the department," he said.

GMP has launched an investigation to find out if any officer should face disciplinary proceedings.

A spokesperson said: "The mistake was discovered as part of the preparation for the court case when all evidence is rigorously scrutinised. This should never have happened in the first place.

"This kind of error is extremely rare and unacceptable and we are, of course, sorry that the woman was put into this dreadful situation."