Keighley incident (From Keighley News)

Keighley incident

8:50am Thursday 4th February 2010

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A 26-year-old mother has been fined by police after she falsely claimed her children’s Christmas presents had been stolen.

The woman, from Utley, told police that £350 of electrical goods were burgled from her home on December 19.

Among the items she claimed had been taken were Nintendo Wii consoles.

When detectives visited the alleged crime scene they became suspicious, established the claim was false and brought the complainant in for questioning.

She was given a warning and a fixed penalty notice for wasting police time.

Airedale and North Bradford Police are now warning those who report false burglaries that they will be caught and can expect at least a fine and possibly criminal proceedings.

Tackling domestic burglary remains a key priority for Airedale and North Bradford police, said a spokesman, and reported offences were investigated at significant cost in terms of man hours and resources.

Det Insp John Priestley, of Airedale and North Bradford CID, said: “False reporting of crimes wastes valuable time and resources which my officers would otherwise spend trying to help those who are genuine victims and will not be tolerated.”

He said that detectives and crime scene evaluators were highly trained and anyone tempted to fake a burglary should not be surprised if they were caught out.

“Anyone who does make a false report of a burglary, whether for financial gain or other reasons, can expect to face appropriate action,” he added.

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