Man fakes his own kidnapping to have a Friday night without his girlfriend

BOLTON, England, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A man in England was fined for wasting police time after telling his girlfriend he was kidnapped so he could stay at a party with his friends.

The unnamed man told his girlfriend he was being held in a house in Bolton, England until he repaid £50 to the fabricated captor. The man's understandably panicked girlfriend called the police to report the fictional crime, launching a very costly manhunt that even led to an unnecessary arrest.

"Considerable resources and time then went into finding this man, who it transpires made the entire thing up so he could stay out and party," Detective Inspector Jo Clawson said in a statement.

"This is without doubt one of the most foolish and irresponsible incidents I have been involved in ... Significant resources were taken off the front line on a Friday night, which is without exception one of the busiest times of the week."

Over a dozen officers executed a neighborhood search, knocking on doors and combing through CCTV footage. The "missing" man was eventually discovered at a party around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

Rather an arrest him, the man was fined on the spot and will forever have a criminal record for trying to have night without his girlfriend.

"We feel we have wasted enough time and resources on him already and not only has he been fined, this matter will be recorded as a criminal conviction on his record."