KAREN DANCZUK broke down in tears as she watched actress Joanne Froggatt’s Laura Nielson being accused of making up rape allegations in ITV thriller Liar.
It was the same shocking thing that happened to her.
Last year, Karen’s brother was finally convicted of three counts of rape against his sister between 1992 and 1994 — but today the former councillor and MP’s wife reveals how she is still branded a liar.
Mum-of-two Karen, 34, suffers daily abuse on social media, has had her car repeatedly vandalised and gets regular visits from police and social services investigating false accusations about her.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “Watching Liar was horrific. There were so many similarities. I couldn’t stop crying.
“It reminded me of when I first uttered those words, ‘I was raped’. The one thing you want to hear is, ‘I believe you’. But that wasn’t the case for me — or for the TV character.
“I still get messages on social media calling me a liar. There’s a harassment campaign against me.
“I get regular knocks on the door from police and social services asking about drugs or neglect of my children.
“My Range Rover has a huge scrape down the side. So many nails have been put into the wheels that the garage say I should have shares in the tyre company. I get so scared sometimes I just want to move away.
“Liar is such an appropriate name for the programme. But people often quickly come to the conclusion it’s the victim who isn’t telling the truth. That has to stop.”
Five million viewers are gripped by the weekly whodunit after 37-year-old Joanne’s character, teacher Laura, accused suave surgeon Andrew Earlham, played by Ioan Gruffudd, 43, of raping her.
Early on it seemed possible she was making it up but it later becomes clear he is the guilty party.
Karen first spoke out about her own rape hell in 2015 to defend criticism over her posting revealing selfies on Twitter.
Karen — then married to former Labour MP Simon Danczuk and branded Westminster’s most embarrassing wife — explained that after years of therapy she felt able to show off the body she had once detested.
Last year Karen’s brother, Michael Burke, 38, was jailed for 15 years for a series of sex assaults on her and two other women, who only came forward after Karen bravely spoke out.
Fighting back tears, Karen said: “When Laura revealed the rape on Facebook on the TV show she did it to take control of her life. I did the same. Then I got the same Facebook abuse.
“I felt sick watching it. I was called a liar, a slut, a slag on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, everywhere. My own mum distributed pictures of me as a child parading around in an outfit that I’d made at needlework, as though I was some kind of slapper.
“People said I deserved it because I’d worn low-cut tops, did selfies, had been out with my mates drinking. That made me angry.
“You should be able to walk down the street naked without giving an open invitation for someone to take advantage of you.
“Eventually the online bullies made me doubt myself. I thought, ‘If they think that, what will the jury think?’.
“My sister Claire was my biggest supporter, she was amazing, but I became so traumatised I’d ask her, ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’. Even in Liar, you can see Laura’s sister’s facial expressions, that bit of doubt.
“That’s why some people don’t come forward, the fear of not being believed. It’s wrong.
“Even my dad thought I’d lied until the conviction. We are his children, his flesh and blood, so it was difficult for him, and he has apologised, but I’ll never forgive.
“I don’t think the online abuse will ever stop. I have a prime troll who calls me Kazza, my childhood name — one I try to forget.
“Some of my brother’s colleagues and friends terrorise me. They are his friends so can’t see how he could possibly be a rapist.
“Liar shows this brilliantly. I bet most people didn’t think the life-saving surgeon was the liar at first.
“I hope it changes perceptions.”
Karen believed Joanne’s character was telling the truth from the start.
She said: “I saw how she was reacting, constantly washing her hands. I still do that to this day, wanting to get that dirt off.
“She had flashbacks. I still do. I wake up every day thinking about it.
“Sometimes I question if I led him on, then I have to say to myself, ‘Karen, you were six years old’.”
Karen believes women who falsely cry rape should go to prison.
Ex-husband Simon, who is dad to her sons Milton, nine, and Maurice, seven, was accused of raping a young woman in Westminster.
But in June this year police said no action would be taken.
Karen said: “That will stick with him forever. There is either an innocent man who is facing this horrid situation or innocent victims who don’t feel strong enough to come forward.
“False allegations are so damaging — it affects genuine victims’ chances of securing a prison sentence.
“They are stopping real victims from coming forward or, even worse, from being believed.”
Karen is now looking forward to her wedding to Spanish warehouse worker David Gomis, 27, after she finishes writing her autobiography.
A large chunk of that book will be about how Karen, from Rochdale, Lancs, has survived — and helped others — since speaking out.
She hopes more women will have the courage to come forward following the ITV programme.
She said: “I get messages from women of all ages who have been through this. Some are scared to go to the police, worried they won’t be believed. There are people that doubt and call you a liar but the police never doubted me.
“It doesn’t make what happened go away, I still have counselling because although I’ve learned to live with it, I will never get over it.
“But I am glad that I spoke out and proud that I stood up to him, because two other women came forward and got justice, too.
“If we hadn’t I wonder if he’d have done it again.
“If victims don’t speak out it will sit there forever and the only life that will be ruined is yours.”
- Liar continues on ITV tomorrow at 9pm.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jp%2BYm62cpMK0e5Nvam9pZGp8rK3RnqVmnJGjsLvBymarr2Wjnby4ecuimKtlopa9pnnBq6atoJWnfA%3D%3D