Liar whose bogus kidnap claim led to 10 arrests jailed

Asif Souhail made a 999 call to police in Huddersfield last December and pointed out a BMW car into which he claimed to have been bundled by three men who had dragged him from his home in Wiggan Lane,

Deighton, Huddersfield.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday the 24-year-old also showed officers the house where he claimed other men had assaulted him and threatened to pour boiling water over him.

Nigel Hamilton, prosecuting, said Souhail provided a 15-page statement about his ordeal and the inquiry involved the work of 21 officers.

An ambulance was called out to assess his injuries at the time and two vehicles were recovered and subjected to examination.

"Most importantly 10 separate men were arrested," said Mr Hamilton. "All were taken into custody and each detained for long periods in excess of 17 hours."

The arrested men were all Kurdish nationals and interpreters had to be called in to assist solicitors during a series of police interviews. The immigration services also became involved because of the nationality of the alleged attackers.

Mr Hamilton said the men were bailed after insisting the kidnap had not happened and two days later Souhail confessed to lying.

Lawyer Neil Murphy suggested it would be an understatement to describe his client as a Walter Mitty character but Judge Jonathan Rose quickly pointed out: "Walter Mitty was a very quaint character in a very pleasant story.

"It didn't involve the massive waste of public resources and the arrest of 10 innocent men."

Souhail, who has previous convictions, pleaded guilty last month to committing acts tending or intended to pervert the course of justice and Mr Murphy conceded his behaviour had been "outlandish and wholly inappropriate".

Mr Murphy said it was quite apparent that a huge amount of resources had been used on what was a wild goose chase, but he said Souhail could not put forward any reasonable or cogent explanation for his actions.

At the time of the incident Souhail was already subject to a community order for harassment and Judge Rose has revoked that order.

He jailed Souhail for a year for perverting the course of justice and added a further three months for the harassment offence.

Judge Rose said Souhail's attitude towards the courts and the justice system was reprehensible and he described the defendant as utterly selfish, having put his own needs before anybody else's.

He said whether Souhail had a quarrel or not with the men he had no right to use the police, the ambulance service, the immigration service and others as a means of pursing his vendetta.