A man has been given a warning by police for dialling 999 to complain that a PROSTITUTE he had arranged to meet was too UGLY, it emerged today.
The disgruntled caller contacted police to moan about the standard of his hooker he had met up with at a hotel in Solihull, West Mids on Tuesday.
The client said he wanted to report the prostitute under the Sales of Goods Act because she wasn’t as attractive as he had hoped for.
Shocked officers proceeded to have stern word with the man about wasting police time – and sent him a letter warning him that soliciting sex acts was illegal.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “We had a call on Tuesday at about 7.30pm.
“The caller said he had arranged to meet a prostitute outside a hotel and he did not like the look of her.
“He said she made herself out to be better than she was.
“When he took issue with this she took his car keys, ran out of the car and then threw them back at him.
“An officer in the Solihull contact centre advised the caller that no offences had been committed by the woman and that soliciting for sex was in fact illegal.
“Despite the man refusing to give his details, police have been able to identify him and have sent him a letter warning him about his actions.
“Wasting police time is a serious offence and carries a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment.”
Solihull Police, who investigated the matter, took to Twitter to reveal details of the bizarre case on Tuesday.
They tweeted: “Unbelievable, ; man just reported a ‘lady of the night’ for breaching Sale of Goods Act with her looks. Sergeant reshaping the man’s attitude.”
Police released the bizarre recording of the man dialling 999 to complain about the prostitute who he claimed ‘misrepresented’ herself in a newspaper advert.
The call was made to West Midlands Police’s control room on Tuesday following an apparent spat between the pair on a public car park in Solihull, West Mids.
During the minute-and-a-half clip the man says the sex worker had ‘got her knickers in a twist’ after he told her that he no longer wished to use her services.
The man, whose identity has not been revealed, said: “I think she’s calmed down now, she’s got her knickers in a twist.
“What’s happened basically is this woman is advertised in the newspaper for private services like massage and stuff, yeah?
“Basically when I have come here she has misdescribed (sic) herself and she has misrepresented herself.”
At this point the baffled 999 call centre operator replies: “Right, I just want to get this clear in my head.”
Before the man butts back in adding: “Let me give you her registration number because that’s the only trace I’ve got of her.
“She has advertised herself, for what’s it called, in the private section, for personal services, and stuff like that.
“I’ve arranged a meeting with her but beforehand I’ve asked for a description of her, give me an honest description otherwise when I get there I’m not going to use your services.
“Which there’s nothing against the law in that – but she’s misdescribed herself, misrepresented herself, totally.
“Basically she was angry – because she thinks I owe her a living or something. Do you you know what I mean.”
Police said they had taken the the decision to release the clip to highlight the regular abuse of the emergency number
The initial call was terminated within a few minutes in order to free up the emergency line, with a follow up call then made by Sergeant Jerome Moran at Solihull police station.
During the second call, he told the officer that he wanted to report the woman for breaching the Sale of Goods Act.
Sergeant Moran said: “It was unbelievable; he genuinely believed he had done nothing wrong and that the woman should have been investigated by police for misrepresentation.
“I told him that she’d not committed any offences and that it was his actions, in soliciting for sex, that were in fact illegal.
“Unhappy with the response, he then insisted on coming down to the police station to debate the matter.
“Although he refused to give me his details following our conversation, I was able to identify him and have since sent him a letter warning him about his actions.
“We recognise that prostitution often involves the exploitation of some very vulnerable members of the community and we will actively pursue those who seek to exploit that vulnerability
“We take around 1,500 999 calls each day and more than 90 per cent of those are answered within 10 seconds but each call often takes minutes to deal with, as staff have to clarify the situation.
“It might not sound like much but, if someone is trying to get through to report a genuine life or death emergency, then a minute is a very long time to wait.
“On this occasion the man in question was given a warning, but wasting police time is a serious offence and carries a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment – next time he may not be so lucky.”
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 gives consumers legal rights, stipulating goods which are sold must be of satisfactory quality, be fit for purpose and must match the sellers’ description.
