‘Hoax left me with a gun in my face’

12:32pm Saturday 7th April 2007

A security officer has condemned a hoax caller who caused him to be ordered out of his home at gunpoint by police.

Armed response officers swooped on Shazad Ali's home after receiving a report of a man with a firearm in the garden.

He was ordered out of his house, in Listerhills, Bradford, with his hands above his head and held until police established the call to them had been false.

Today, Mr Ali, 27, condemned the hoaxer who, he said, had caused huge distress to his family.

"I have worked in security for ten years and I have never been in trouble with the police. I have never even had a speeding ticket," he said.

"This has had a devastating effect. I am angry someone could do this. I can't think of anybody who would do such a thing. I have never owned a gun."

Mr Ali, who works as a security supervisor, said he had been in bed at lunchtime when his partner told him police were outside.

He said:"I looked out of the bedroom window and there were two armed police officers in my back garden. One was pointing his gun at me. They told me to get out.

"There were about ten or 12 police officers, eight were armed, and seven or eight police cars in the street. I asked them what was going on and they told me to be quiet.

"Then I was told I could go back inside. An officer just said it was a hoax call and apologised."

He continued: "When I walked out everybody on the street was looking at me. I can't face them now. All my cousins have heard about it. It has brought shame on me. People probably think I'm a firearms dealer."

Mr Ali said he understood the police were doing their job but believed it had been badly handled.

He said: "My grandmother, who has a heart condition, was in the house and was shocked by what happened. She has been poorly since and has had to take tablets every day."

West Yorkshire police confirmed the call to them had been a hoax.

A spokesman said: "We received a call reporting a man with a firearm in the garden of a house.

"As is standard procedure, an operation was conducted involving firearms officers - the protection of the public and officers attending the incident being of paramount importance.

"It was established the call had been a hoax. Inquiries are being carried out to trace the person who made the call.

"West Yorkshire police take hoax calls very seriously and always actively seek to prosecute those who make them.

"We have spoken to the man whose address was the subject of the operation and explained our procedures."

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