Coronation Street actress Michelle Collins has opened up about the two-year-ordeal she suffered after she was accused of trying to steal children from a destitute family.
The parents of the poverty stricken family have since been found guilty of torturing their children for five years after they believed their kids were possessed by evil spirits.
Collins was forced to defend herself against the baseless accusations in court.
Her nightmare began on Christmas Day 2009 after she met a Nigerian mother and her five young children while helping out at a church soup kitchen in London with her daughter Maia.
She said: "They were sweet kids, they were enthusiastic and seemed bright and alert. Maia, who was about 12 at the time, thought they were lovely and played with them. The older girl was quite talkative but the others were shy. The mum seemed nice but was very quiet. She seemed to be a good mum. It was clear they didn't have very much."
Kindhearted Michelle then took them to the theatre to see her in the Take That stage musical, and followed it up with a trip to the cinema to see Avatar.
Michelle continued: "The kids wore 3D glasses and we had lots of popcorn. They wanted to meet my dog Jingle, a little Samoyed rescue dog, so we all came back to my house for tea. I made them pizza and they played with Maia. That was the last time I saw them."
However, she began to have concerns, explaining: "We had been told they didn't have a father but a man was there when we picked them up. One of them said he was their dad but another said they weren't supposed to tell. I felt they were quite cagey. When they said they weren't going to school, alarm bells rang.
"I did hesitate about making the call (to social services) but I had a sense that something wasn't right. I felt sorry for the mum and had no reason to think she was anything but a loving parent."
Months later her world was turned upside down after she received a call from a lawyer working for London's Haringey Council.
She said: "I was told I was being taken to court by the family because there was a conspiracy between me and the council to take the children away so I could adopt them. I was astonished and shocked. I just thought it was ludicrous, but I was then subpoenaed to attend a family court. I thought I'm a working actress, what am I doing getting involved in this? It's like the storyline of a soap opera.
"I never found out what the exact accusation against me was because the family didn't turn up. I think the judge thought it was a bit ridiculous I was there. I heard nothing more about it."
However, one of the daughters in the family, then aged nine, wrote an SOS note in 2010 and threw it out of her window. The subsequent investigation saw shocking evidence of child abuse, and Collins gave crucial evidence during the seven-week trial.
Collins added: "It was the hardest thing I've ever done. You're being told you're lying and everything you say is being contradicted. I was painted as this completely different person to the one I knew I was."
Michelle's nightmare finally ended last week when the parents were jailed for seven years.