A MAN who admitted wasting police time after he falsely claimed he had been kidnapped to cover up a theft is to be psychiatrically assessed.

A major police investigation was set up when Daniel Martin Bennett, 23, alleged that two men from Manchester abducted him from his Wrexham flat where they had stolen £500.

A previous court hearing was told that he claimed he was then bundled into a Mercedes car and held face down while he was driven around the town.

Bennett told detectives he was only released when the abductors realised he was not the son of local businessman Kerry Wycherley.

But a court heard that it was all made up.

Bennett had in fact stolen £200 from his flat mate Leon Wycherley, the businessman’s son, in order to “run away”.

After taking the money he found that there were no trains that night – and in any event he had not decided where to go.

So Flintshire magistrates’ court in Mold was told that Bennett, who lives in a flat at Bellevue Court in Wrexham, went out on the town and spent it all on drink.

He then made up the kidnap story to cover up what he had done.

Bennett was due for sentence yesterday but magistrates adjourned the case so that a psychiatric assessment could be carried out.

Catherine Jagger, defending, said Bennett was under a lot of pressure at the time and was said to be suffering from depression.

He admitted stealing the money and then wasting police time by making up the false story.