A drug addict wasted 23 hours of police time — at a cost of more than £1,100 — after reporting he’d been robbed by a man with a “Rambo-style” knife.
Kevin Keen, 32, made the false claim in the city centre earlier this year.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that police reviewed CCTV and found no robbery or any sign of the alleged victim, at a total cost of £1,156.50.
Fiscal depute Isma Mukhtar told the court Keen attended at Dundee’s police headquarters on May 23 and told the officers he had been the victim of a robbery the previous week.
The fiscal said: “He told them he had met a male at Ellenbank Bar who had offered him knock-off designer clothing.
“He said he had no money but arranged to meet him at 10.30am-11am the next day.
“He said the next morning he had withdrawn money from his bank account and went to meet the man at the Wellgate. He said when he walked into an alleyway at Pullar’s Close, a male pulled out a large Rambo-style knife from a rucksack and demanded money from him.”
Keen told police he had handed over £150 cash which he had withdrawn from his back account, a bus pass and an electricity card.
But CCTV showed no incident taking place at the time reported.
Keen also made a similar false claim to his support worker, which police investigated and again found to be false. Solicitor John Boyle, defending, told the court Keen was on a methadone prescription and had taken Valium.
Mr Boyle said: “Shortly before the offence his flatmate, a woman he regarded as a mother figure, was found dead in the flat they shared.
“It was him who found her and due to the circumstances of that he began abusing Valium.”
Mr Boyle added Keen has since be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and is receiving counselling.
Sentence was deferred until January 5 for reports.
A police spokeswoman said: “False reports of any kind will not be taken lightly and we are committed to pursuing and robustly investigating individuals who waste police time.
“Those who make false reports knowingly divert police resources from supporting and providing a service to genuine victims of crime.”
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