Mother faked autistic son's kidnap to frame 'rip-off' builder in West Yorkshire

Robina Razaq cooked up the bizarre story out of frustration when she felt nobody was prepared to help get her money back from the construction worker, Leeds Crown Court was told. The mother-of-three was jailed for 15 months this week after admitting to attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said the 48-year-old made the frantic 999 call on March 17 last year and said the builder, who had been working on her house, had snatched her child following an argument over his work. She said the youngster has “severe autism” and did not talk.

The police deployed officers and quickly found Razaq with her son on Track Road, Batley. She then told a lengthy story about how the builder had grabbed the boy during their argument and run out of the property, shoving him in a vehicle and driving away.

Razaq, of Purlwell Hall Road, Batley, said she flagged down a passing motorist who helped chase the builder, and when he stopped at traffic lights she was able to grab her son from his vehicle.

The builder was later arrested and spent five hours in custody before being released without charge. CCTV from the defendant’s own home was analysed and showed her leaving the house with her son that afternoon, with no sign of the builder.

Having been shown the footage, Razaq continued to maintain her original story, but later admitted it was a fabrication.

Mitigating, Anastasis Tasou said she has no previous convictions and added: “The offence was very serious, but it must be balanced with her naivety. It was never going to go further than an allegation. It was not sophisticated as far as planning was concerned.”

She claimed to have paid the builder £4,000 to make the basement of her home habitable, but a minimal amount of work had been done, with a labourer simply ripping out a chimney breast before leaving.

She said the builder was then demanding another £15,000 for additional work. She tried contacting Kirklees Council, two Citizens Advice Bureau offices and the police, but said none were willing to help.

Mr Tasou said: “She had been clearly defrauded by this man and there was element of giving him a dose of his own medicine. She was clearly provoked. Thankfully he did not spend an overly-long period in custody, and thankfully he was not charged.”

He said that the woman’s son no longer lives with her.

Judge Ray Singh told Razaq: “Whatever the rights and wrongs, what you did was report an untrue crime, which is an extremely serious matter. All of it was a complete pack of lies, your own son even told the police it was nonsense.

"It was to get somebody, who was quite innocent, arrested by way of revenge. You have shown very little remorse. Your only saving grace is your early guilty plea.”

He told her that only an immediate custodial sentence could be justified.