After wasting over £100,000 and 900 hours of police time: the Jihad of Draining and Diverting Resources. An update on this story: “Muslim leader who claimed he was kidnapped by BNP members jailed over ‘pack of lies,'” from the Daily Mail, June 11 (thanks to Tziona):
A Muslim community leader who claimed he was kidnapped by BNP members at knifepoint has today been jailed for perverting the course of justice.
Noor Ramjanally, 36, told police he was bungled [sic] into the back of a car by two racist men outside his flat after he started holding prayer sessions.
However, Ramjanally’s ‘pack of lies’ were exposed when he was caught out by secret CCTV cameras installed to protect him after previous claims that he was being targeted.
Footage showed that at the time of the alleged attack, the father-of-one was getting into a taxi outside his home. He was also caught on camera later at a local Homebase.
The cameras had been installed after Ramjanally claimed his home, in Loughton, Essex – where he lived with his wife and son – was firebombed and that he was sent hate mail.
More than £100,000 was spent on the investigation into his allegations which wasted more than 900 hours of police time.
He was given a two-year sentence in his absence after failing to attend Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex today.
It is believed Ramjanally has returned to his native Mauritius.
Judge Karen Walden Smith said it was impossible to say whether Ramjanally acted as he did deliberately to increase tension in the community or did it for his own vanity, or both.
She continued: ‘This allegation was a complete pack of lies.
‘These were serious allegations being made to point the finger at a political party with unsavoury views in order to accuse them of an extremely serious offence.
‘The fact was to divert precious police resources and increase tension.’ …