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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Rhyl,North Wales - Heroin addict sparks kidnap alert

Published date: 15 November 2016 | 

Published by: Staff reporter
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A HEROIN addict who sparked a police probe overseen by a detective inspector when he pretended to have been kidnapped received a 16 weeks suspended jail term on Monday.

Simon Broome, 35, of Ffynnongroew Road, Rhyl, North Wales, admitted wasting police time last September, failing to surrender to custody, two thefts from shops at the town, and breaching a community order. A 16 weeks overnight curfew was also imposed and he must pay £200 costs.

Prosecutor James Neary told magistrates at Llandudno police had received an anonymous phone call about a man being beaten up and thrown in the back of a whitevan by Rhyl library. Minutes later there was a second call saying Broome had been put in the back of a van.

Police began looking at CCTV footage and made house-to-house inquiries.

Mr Neary said Broome turned up within a short time of the allegations being made and didn’t appear harmed. “He described to the police he had been bundled in the back of the van and driven to Denbigh Moors, and it was the second occasion he had been kidnapped,” the prosecutor said. He also named two suspects.

However, officers had doubts because his voice sounded like the phone caller. Mr Neary continued :”If he had been kidnapped and taken up to Denbigh Moors he was back in Rhyl rather quickly.”

The “killer blow” for Broome’s account was his claim to have been wearing certain clothes at the time. CCTV footage showed otherwise. “It’s a substantial amount of police time that was lost,” Mr Neary added.

Andrew Hutchinson, defending, said Broome was no stranger to the court because of his drug addiction. Like other addicts he was subject to threats of violence and the drug culture was the reason for the fake kidnap story.

Broome was now in a relationship, the solicitor added.

Suspending the jail term for two years, court chairwoman Grainne McDonagh told Broome: "You are on a last chance
http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/169097/rhyl-heroin-addict-sparks-kidnap-alert.aspx

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