Bingham man dials 999 to report red card in Manchester United Champions League tie

A BINGHAM man dialled 999 to report Nani's controversial sending off in Manchester United's Champions League match against Real Madrid last night.

The 18-year-old United supporter was watching his team's Champions League last-16 tie on TV when he called Notts Police.

The English team were 1-0 up on the night - leading 2-1 on aggregate - when the midfielder was red-carded for what the Turkish referee deemed to be a dangerous high challenge.

Many experts have said the red card was overly harsh.

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After that Real Madrid scored twice in three minutes to win 2-1 and knock Manchester United out of the competition.

The teen made the call at 9.20pm yesterday while the game was still in progress, believing the red card was a crime.

He later apologised for his actions, claiming to have been caught up in the excitement.

There were 6,933 recorded hoax calls to Notts Police in 2012 - around 2 per cent of all reported incidents.

Control Room Chief Inspector Ted Antill said: “While this recent example may be amusing, it illustrates the sort of insincere calls we have to deal with on a daily basis in the Control Room.

“They waste our time and they direct us away from genuine victims of crime, particularly if we dispatch officers out to something that turns out to be a bogus report.

“I would ask people to think before picking up the phone for emergency services. I would also advise parents to ensure your children are aware that prank calls and the reporting of made-up crimes is a crime in itself.

“There may be people out there in real trouble who need our help and they have to wait because we are tied up with calls like this one, reporting a referee from the television.

“It’s no joke. In this case, the man realised his bad judgement and apologised and we decided not to pursue it further. But we can and we do prosecute people for wasting police time and making false reports.”