2 weeks' jail for false 999 message

A Chinese national dialled "999" claiming he had committed a murder. PHOTO: ST FILE

FRUSTRATED that the police had not sent anyone to assist him over his lost mobile phone, a Chinese national found another way to get police personnel to attend to him.

He dialled "999" claiming he had committed a murder.

For transmitting a false message, Liu Xianmin, 27, was yesterday jailed for two weeks.

District Judge Adam Nakhoda in sentencing him yesterday described his offence as being "extremely serious".

The court heard that on the night of Feb 20, Liu, a work permit pass holder, was at a restaurant along North Bridge Road when he realised his mobile phone was missing.

He called the police emergency hotline and asked for help, but became upset when he heard that no police officer had been dispatched to attend to his case.

Some time later, he called the police again, this time claiming he had committed a murder in Chinatown.

He said he would not give any more details to the police unless they came to the scene.

The operator at the Police Operations Command Centre immediately dispatched several police resources to attend to Liu.

However, police officers who arrived at the scene later found his claims to be false. Liu, who admitted he had fabricated the claim, was subsequently detained.

In mitigation, he said his mind was not clear and he was anxious because he had lost his phone. He added that he was not aware that he was breaking the law.

For transmitting a false message, he could have been jailed for up to three years and fined a maximum of $10,000.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 17, 2015, with the headline 2 weeks' jail for false 999 message. Subscribe