Fake kidnap victim to do 100 hrs community service

THE woman who falsely told police she and her six-year-old son were kidnapped has been ordered by a magistrate to do 100 hours of community service.

The sentence was handed down to Sapna Chinyan by senior magistrate Siumongal Ramsaran in the Couva Magistrates’ Court.

Chinyan, 33, of Carli Bay, Couva admitted she had used the family’s savings of $30,000 to fund her habit and making the false report was her way out.

She was charged with wasting police time. She pleaded guilty to the charge, laid by PC Visham Ramoutar of the Couva CID.

Prosecutor Sgt Lincoln Bonnett had told the court that Couva police received a report on May 17 that a woman and her child were abducted from their home at 7.30 am and taken to the Southern Main Road, Claxton Bay by four unarmed men of African descent in a brown Nissan Almera.

The woman told them her kidnappers demanded a $30,000 ransom. Chinyan told police she was allowed to leave and collect the ransom money while the men kept the child.

When police investigated and watched CCTV footage which showed the report was false, Chinyan was arrested and charged.