Shahid Khan, 31, and Zaynul Shaffi, 44, have been convicted for making more than 100 hoax 999 calls, costing the public an eye-watering £100,000 in wasted police and emergency resources. The duo’s disgusting pranks stretched over 78 days in 2024 and 2025.
Shocking 999 Hoax Claims
The pair dialled up fake emergencies, claiming everything from having been shot to drowning a pregnant wife — and on one chilling occasion, abandoning a baby on train tracks. They used multiple phones and switched up their accents to avoid detection. Despite the elaborate cover-up, police linked 122 calls to the pair over nearly two years.
Helicopters and Hundreds of Officers Scramble
One call in August 2024 claimed a baby named Josh was left on train tracks after discovering a cheating spouse. The police response was massive: nearly 20 police vehicles, 30 officers, and a helicopter scoured the area. Shaffi even messaged Khan, “Got the chopper out,” while Khan asked him to film it.
Boasting About Their Crimes
The brazen pair mocked others’ failures on social media. Shaffi wrote, “They’re not like us, man, we do our thing undetected,” referring to a bomb hoax news article. Their calls sometimes included fake sightings of suspects in murder investigations, prompting urgent specialist police responses, including firearms and drone units.
Police Catch the Hoaxers
“The calls were often very serious and sinister,” said Det Sgt Ross Somerfield from Birmingham CID. “They would delay genuine emergency responses and took pride in covering their tracks with different SIM cards. But our digital forensics nailed them.”
Shaffi, from Barrows Road, Birmingham, admitted causing a public nuisance and was jailed for three years at Birmingham Crown Court on 7 April. Khan, from Whichford Grove, Birmingham, was found unfit to stand trial but a jury found he committed the offences. His sentencing is pending.
