South Yorkshire Police reveal teenage girl's 999 'life in danger' call was a hoax

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Earlier this month, South Yorkshire Police revealed that officers were deployed to woodland in Wickersley after receiving a call from someone claiming to be a 15-year-old girl who stated to a 999 call handler that she was in a tent in woodland in Wickersley, Rotherham, and that her life was ‘in danger’.

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A police dog was deployed and tracked down the tent, where a girl and two 16-year-old boys were found.

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More details have now been released about the 999 call, which was made at 4.40am on Friday, October 1.

South Yorkshire Police said the tent was located off Northfield Lane and three teenagers – two of whom were reported missing at that time – were found.

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The force said: “We were called at about 4.40am on Friday, October 1 by a teenage girl stating she was in danger in woodland off Northfield Lane in Wickersley.

“She stated she was in a tent and a group of unknown people were outside.

“Officers attended with a police dog assisting but the group could not be found. A teenage boy was in the tent with the teenage girl. Another teenage boy was also present.

“The two teenage boys had been reported missing – one from Rotherham and one from Bradford in the West Yorkshire Police area – and both were returned home.

“The teenage girl was also returned home.”

The girl who was found in the tent had not made the call.

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Three years ago, police chiefs warned hoax callers to think of the consequences of their actions after figures showed their staff handled more than 25 such calls a week and officers actually attended almost 400 bogus incidents in a year.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed South Yorkshire Police handled 1,333 hoax calls in 2017.

Of the 399 hoax calls officers attended in 2017, more than half - 203 - were in Sheffield.

South Yorkshire Police said: “They are a complete waste of police time. We are here to deal with genuine emergencies and people who genuinely need the emergency services.

“I would ask people to think very seriously about their actions before they make the call.”