Muslim leader 'lied about BNP kidnap'
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A Muslim community leader falsely claimed to have been kidnapped by members of the British National Party after police and a local council spent £1,300 improving security at his home, a jury heard today.
Noor Ramjanally, 36, of Loughton, Essex, had complained of receiving hate mail and having accelerant poured through his letterbox prior to being "abducted", prosecutor Matthew Gowan told Chelmsford Crown Court.
A new door was fitted to the council flat where Ramjanally was living and police installed a hidden camera, a local authority official told the court.
But camera footage revealed no sign of the "two burly men" Ramjanally claimed had snatched him at knifepoint last August, said Mr Gowan.
And Ramjanally had been taken to a local DIY store by taxi on the day he claimed to have been kidnapped, jurors were told.
Ramjanally is not in court, is not legally represented and is being tried in his absence.
Jurors heard that he denied attempting to pervert the course of justice, by falsely telling police he had been abducted, at an earlier hearing.
The trial is expected to end next week.