Arrest warrant as 'Ross from Friends' lookalike fails to show up for court

An arrest warrant has been issued after a lookalike of Friends actor David Schwimmer failed to attend court on charges of theft and fraud.

A district judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of Abdulah Husseni after he failed to turn up to court on Tuesday.

He had been summonsed to appear before Blackpool magistrates to face charges of theft and fraud.

District Judge Jane Goodwin issued a warrant not backed for bail after Husseni, 36, of Spencer Road, Slough, failed to answer his summons.

The defendant had received instructions by post to come to the court for 9.30am.

Social media users pointed out the likeness to Schwimmer's character Ross Geller in the popular US sitcom when police in Blackpool posted an image of a man leaving a restaurant on September 20 and carrying what appeared to be a carton of beer cans.

The image of the man quickly went viral, with many questioning whether or not it was Schwimmer.

The 52-year-old hilariously replied to the online attention with a video of himself reenacting the CCTV stills, where he said it wasn't him.

Police in Lancashire thanked the Friends actor for supporting the appeal and replied to say a man had been arrested in west London.

Writing on Twitter, a police spokesman said: “Following the appeal we posted looking for a man who resembles a well-known actor, we now have an update.

“Thanks to our colleagues at Metropolitan Police, a 36-year-old man was arrested in Southall last night on suspicion of theft. Thank you for the support, especially David Schwimmer.”