UK woman calls police over stolen snowman
By ANISaturday, December 4, 2010
LONDON - A woman in Britain has infuriated police after she dialled the emergency number only to tell them that her snowman had been stolen.
The police said the woman figured it demanded their involvement because she had used 1-pound coins for the eyes and teaspoons for the arms.he woman, from Chatham, Kent, has been “spoken to” by officers to advise her about what constitutes a real emergency.
Kent Police issued a transcript of the “completely irresponsible” call which they received overnight as they fielded thousands of calls from people because of the sub-zero conditions.
The woman is heard saying during the 999 call that there has been a theft from outside of her house, and that she found it was gone after she stepped out for a cigarette.
The operator asks the woman, “who’s gone?”, and she replies back, “my snowman”.
The incredulous operator than tells her that it is an emergency line and she should not be ringing it to report the theft of a snowman.
“This call could have cost someone’s life if there was a genuine emergency and they couldn’t get through,” the Daily Mail quoted Chief Inspector Simon Black, from Kent Police’s force contact and control centre, as saying.
“It was completely irresponsible. We have spoken to her and advised her what is a 999 call, and this learly was not.
“We do have powers to prosecute people for misusing the 999 system, but in this case the woman genuinely thought this was a theft that she should report because she’d used pound coins for the eyes and teaspoons for the arms,” he added. (ANI)