Princes Town man fined $1,000 for wasting police time

A Princes Town man was fined $1,000 on Tuesday by a Princes Town magistrate after he pleaded guilty to wasting the police’s time by claiming he was kidnapped in March.

Junior Ali, 21, appeared virtually before magistrate Indira Misir-Gosine on Tuesday on a charge of wasteful employment of the police.

He pleaded guilty and was fined. If he fails to pay the fine, he will be jailed for three months with hard labour.

Ali claimed on March 29, at about 11 am, he was walking along Begonia Avenue, Princes Town, when a black Nissan Tiida car stopped alongside him.

He claimed there were two men in the car and the one seated in the back seat pointed a gun at him and told him to get into the car.

He told police he was taken to a bushy area 50 feet off Railway Reserve Road and beaten on the head with a gun butt.

Ali said he was tied to a tree, and the men took $3,700 from him before they escaped. He said he managed to free himself and ran to safety.

Police said PC Ali and WPC Hamilton visited the scene and made initial enquiries, after which officers of the Princes Town CID, led by Sgt Teeluck, did further investigations and arrested and charged Ali.