20 April 2012
Police Warn Against Making False
Allegations
Bedfordshire Police is reminding residents of the dangers of
making false allegations and wasting police time.
Earlier this week, detectives carried out an in depth
investigation into an alleged robbery in Wheatfield Road, Luton,
where the ‘victim’ claimed to have his computer stolen by two men
who were armed with a knife and also made threats to kill.
The allegation meant that officers were required to take
statements, undertake door-to-door enquiries and view hours of CCTV
footage before the truth was discovered. Detectives found that the
‘victim’ - who was suffering from financial difficulties - had used
his computer as security on a loan he took from a pawnbroker. The
27-year-old man who made the claim was subsequently charged with
wasting police time and given a fixed penalty notice.
Detective Sergeant Simon Hancock of the South CID Robbery Squad,
said: “Bedfordshire Police takes any report of robbery extremely
seriously and will do all that we can to capture the offenders as
quickly as possible. Unfortunately we are seeing an increased
number of incidents where people have purposefully made up claims
and wasted quite a considerable amount of police time.
“I’d like to remind residents that making false allegations –
whether they be robbery or any other crimes - and wasting police
time is a serious offence which could result in the person making
the claims being prosecuted and sent to prison for perverting
justice. In this case we quickly established that the story just
wasn’t adding up and were able to warn the claimant about his
action and issue the appropriate penalty.”
To report any crime please contact Bedfordshire Police,
in confidence, on the non emergency number 101, or text information
to 07786 200011. Alternatively contact independent charity
Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or online at
crimestoppers-uk.org.
