Man jailed for Selby rail crash hoax call

A hoaxer who called emergency services claiming his partner was involved in the Selby rail crash was sentenced to five months in prison yesterday. However, Ian Farndon was being released from custody having already served nearly four months on remand.

Coventry Crown Court was told that Farndon's "joke" call resulted in more than 200 police hours being wasted.

The court heard that Farndon, 28, who was a heroin addict at the time of the crash, telephoned a casualty bureau in London after he saw television pictures of the rail disaster on 28 February this year.

Guy Spollon, for the prosecution, said Farndon falsely claimed to an operator that he dropped off his girlfriend at York railway station on the day of the disaster. Mr Spollon told the court: "Very, very detailed investigations were put in place by the police."

Farndon, of Willenhall, Coventry, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to wasting police time between 28 February and 4 March.