Man charged for wasting time

2005-10-27 19:03

London - A man who claimed he had been asked to take part in the July bomb attacks in London was charged on Thursday with wasting police time.

The Metropolitan police said Imran Yaqub Patel, 27, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was scheduled for a preliminary court appearance in Leeds later in the day.

Patel was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism, after he was quoted as saying he had been invited to join the suicide bombers who killed 52 Underground railway and bus passengers on July 7.

The charge against Patel said he "caused wasteful employment of the police by knowingly making to (newspaper reporter) Mazher Mahmood a false report tending to show that you had information material to a police inquiry".

Dewsbury was the home of Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, who had been identified by police as one of the bombers.

Patel was quoted in The News of the World, a Sunday newspaper, as saying Khan had invited him to join in the London attacks. He claimed he refused because it was suggested that he attack a school.

- AP