Swatting is a process in which someone prank calls the police and informs them that a shooting or hostage situation is going on in another location, thus forcing the police to react by bringing out all their big guns and ultimately scaring the pants off the innocent victim in the process. Well it looks like over in the UK, a man by the name of David Helens did the same thing, except that he called the police to the house he was in.
According to a report from the Mirror, Helens made the call to the police after what was a reportedly long session of Grand Theft Auto V. During the call, he claimed that his “friend” Max had suffered from a gunshot wound to the chest and was slipping in and out of consciousness, and that he was bleeding badly and thought that he might be dead.
It was later discovered that “Max” was his video game character which then prompted police to arrest him on the spot. In fact to make his call more convincing, Helens claimed that he himself was attacked and feigned screaming and shouting. Two ambulances were said to have been dispatched to the address he gave.
Helens has since been found guilty of making the prank call and has been sentenced to a 12 month community order where he had to complete 120 hours of unpaid work. He has also been ordered to be given supervision over the course of the next 18 months.
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