Phone call revealed lies about theft

The man, aged 21, from Huddersfield man has been fined for wasting police time after falsely reporting that he had been robbed at knifepoint.

He contacted police at 9.20am on Monday to say he been robbed earlier that morning while he had been walking through Milnsbridge.

He said he had been in Factory Lane at 6am when a man wearing a hooded top, with a scarf around his face, had stolen his mobile phone and £65 after threatening him with a flick knife.

His scam unravelled when an officer phoned the mobile that was alleged to have been stolen, only for him to answer.

The man confessed his phone clearly had not been stolen and that he had made up the crime purely to get a crime number from police in an attempt to get a crisis loan. He was arrested and fined £80 for wasting police time.

Sgt Ian Thornes, of Huddersfield police, said yesterday: “I hope this sends a clear message out to anyone who might be thinking of making similar false reports to the police.”