OFFICERS have arrested a 22-year-old woman from Warrington for wasting police time after resources from two police forces were diverted to false kidnap claims.
At around 12.47 am today, Monday 27 April, officers in Warrington responded to reports of an incident in which a caller claimed that their partner had been kidnapped by an unknown group of people.
A large scale operation was launched by local officers to locate the partner. They were found shortly afterwards and it was subsequently established that the claim of a kidnapping was false and that the call was a hoax.
In addition to the hoax call, the caller – a 22-year-old woman from Warrington – had also contacted a relative in the Bury area, claiming that they too were under threat of being kidnapped. This prompted the relative to contact local officers.
As a result, Greater Manchester Police resources were diverted to safeguard the individual.
This claim was also later proven to be false.
The woman was subsequently arrested in the Museum Street area of Warrington at around 2.50 am on suspicion of wasting police time and engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour.
She remains in custody at this time and is assisting officers with their enquiries.
Chief Inspector Rob McLoughlin, of Warrington’s Command Team, said: “Resources from both Cheshire and Greater Manchester Police were diverted in response to extremely serious claims that individuals were in immediate danger, when in fact there were no credible threats.
“The diversion of these policing resources meant that real and unfolding incidents could not be responded to as effectively, while officers’ time was wasted searching for someone who was not in danger.
“The re-routing of officers, vehicles and resources to these fabricated kidnappings meant their attention was taken away from genuine incidents, where real lives could very easily have been at risk.”
