Man caught with prostitute says he was trying to buy tomatoes

A man caught with a prostitute in his car told police she was there to show him where to buy tomatoes.

West Midlands Police said officers found the woman sitting inside Muhammad Ikhlaq's car while he withdrew £20 from a cash machine, which he said was to pay for tomatoes.

Ikhlaq, 39, of New Street, Dudley, was found guilty of soliciting and fined £400 at Walsall Magistrates' Court.

It continues to amaze, and amuse, me when people get caught in situations like this, that they still think they can weasel their way out of it by offering up some ingenious excuse that will leave the police flabbergasted and give them no choice but to let them go.

While that’s what might be going through the minds of these people we all know the reality is very different, this story being the latest example.

I know fresh fruit and veg is quite expensive these days, but £20 how many tomatoes was Ikhlaq planning to buy?   

Also as this incident would have taken place at night, Ikhlaq didn’t have to resort to asking a woman he met where to buy tomatoes, I mean if he doesn’t know where to get them at 39 frankly he doesn’t deserve them, he could have just popped into his local Tesco extra.

All Ikhlaq had to do was admit responsibility and that would have been it, but no he had to make up some harebrained excuse and now his story has been covered by all the major news organisations and he’s been made to look like an idiot.

Instead of the judge on his case decreeing that Ikhlaq pay over £1,000 in fines and costs, maybe he should have ordered Ikhlaq to be put in the stocks and pelted with £20 worth of tomatoes, that might teach him a lesson.