Hoax 999 caller tagged for reporting armed man then giving description of himself

A 47-year-old man has been electronically tagged for three months after calling police and stating that there was an armed man walking along the street - giving a description of himself as the suspect.

Adam McLeish, unemployed of Widecombe Road, Mottingham pled guilty to wasting police time at Bromley Magistrates Court. He was sentenced to be electronically tagged for three months and required to pay £200 Court costs.



At 15:22 on 31 March 2011 police received an anonymous call stating that there was a male called Adam McLeish walking up and down Widecombe Road with a firearm looking for someone to shoot. A very detailed description of the suspect was also given. Police attended the location, supported by a firearms unit, and stopped a male matching the suspect's description.

He was searched, found to have no weapon on him and taken to his home address for this to be searched. While at his home address officers noticed that the landline at the suspects home address was identical to that of the informant. Officers requested that a tape of the 999 call be played back to them and then arrested McLeish for wasting police time when the voice was identical.