Can You Believe This? Manhunt Follows Gambler’s False Stabbing Claim
A man who fell on a can and slit himself outside a South Wales bookmaker appeared in court where a judge decided his fate.
No, tripping over a can is not a crime.
Calling 999 to say you were stabbed is.
And that call resulted in a massive police manhunt that brought streets to a standstill in the town of Pontypridd.
Mark Kernohan, 52, even gave a description of the alleged attacker and was transported by air ambulance.
He eventually admitted the whole thing had been a lie - wasting £4,200 of taxpayers' money, according to the Mirror, and now he must pay the piper.
Ashamed Kernohan told a court: “I should never have done it, I was just panicked.
“I just wanted an ambulance - I didn’t expect the police and the air ambulance and everything else.”
He added: “I was in a very bad place. I had just split up with my partner and gambled all my wages away.
“I suffered with angina, stumbled, pierced my stomach on a can and just thought that would be an easy way out.
“I’ve always shied away from my troubles, it’s a problem I’ve had for a long, long time."
Kernohan reportedly lost £600 gambling at the bookie.
He was ordered to pay £1,000 to Wales Air Ambulance in compensation and a £15 victim surcharge.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
