No charges for girls who made 999 hoax call (From York Press)

No charges for girls who made 999 hoax call

12:03pm Saturday 1st September 2012 in News

TWO girls from East Yorkshire who sparked a national police operation costing £3,000 after making a hoax 999 call will not face criminal charges.

The ten-year-olds claimed to be a three-year-old called Ellie whose mother had collapsed at her home in Leeds and could not get up when they made the call in Juiy, but ambulance staff were unable to trace where they had called from and police were drafted in when the caller said they were locked in the house.

Officers subsequently traced the 33-minute mobile phone call to Bridlington, where the girls lived, but not before a publicity drive had been launched to try and find out where ‘Ellie’ was. The Youth Offending Team and the Crown Prosecution Service have now decided no charges will be brought, but the girls will be taken to see emergency call-handlers at work as part of a behavioural programme.

Detective Superintendent David Pervin from West Yorkshire Police, which launched the search, said: “The investigation of this hoax call took up a significant amount of police time and resources.

“The girls are now going through a formal process to challenge their behaviour and make them appreciate the impact of their actions.”