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Phone pest made hoax 999 call
A recovering alcoholic kept an emergency call worker on the telephone for an hour when he made a false 999 call.
Jonathan Armstrong's time-wasting saw police officers break down his door and an ambulance speed to his home.
An emergency operator was kept on the phone for an hour to make sure he was all right, a court heard.
But police and paramedics found Armstrong – who is banned from making nuisance calls to the emergency services under the terms of a two-year antisocial behaviour order – slumped in a drunken state on the floor.
He said he did not know why he had phoned for help.
Peterlee Magistrates' Court heard that Armstrong, 37, made a 999 call saying he was ill, but refused to have an ambulance.
Prosecuting, Nicci Horton: "He was asking where he could stab himself and he sounded drunk at the time."
Magistrates heard a police officer was sent to Armstrong's home, in Little Eden, Peterlee, but could not get in, so had to break the door down.
Armstrong admitted breaching an Asbo, which prevented him from making 999 calls unless in genuine need of help, on September 3 last year.
Martin Scarborough, defending, said Armstrong had been struggling with depression for some time, but since the offence had received hospital treatment and he would not be drinking any more.
He added: "This was a real cry for help. It was really a call that should have been made to the Samaritans."
Armstrong was sentenced to a 12-month community order and told him to pay 85 costs.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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