Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Two-day manhunt ends in a spell in jail for practical joker who stole two traffic cones

Police spent two days hunting a practical joker who took two traffic cones – just to hit force targets.

Bank worker Masum Ahmed took the £10 road markers as a prank then found himself facing a massive man-hunt.

Three officers were deployed to find him before locking him up for four hours. They then slapped him with an £80 fine – only to withdraw it hours later.



Mr Ahmed, 27, was “gob-smacked” with the reaction after he took the cones in Burnham, Bucks. He said: “I took two cones as a practical joke as we have problems parking but I didn’t think it would go this far. They searched my house and my car.

“Then more officers came and questioned me. I was arrested and held in a cell for four hours. Then they took my DNA and I got a caution and £80 fine. It took three officers two-and-a-half days. Not long ago I reported my car had been broken into and no-one ever came around about that.”

The incident came after Insp Chris Burrows, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, said police are being forced to give the theft of a milk bottle the same importance as a murder to hit clear-up targets.

No comments: