A TRIMSARAN man who bombarded 999 call handlers with a series of nuisance phone calls appeared before magistrates in Llanelli on Thursday (Dec 7).
47-year-old Jason Ford, of Garden Suburbs, pleaded guilty to two charges of persistently making use of a public communications network to cause annoyance or inconvenience.
The court heard that Ford made ‘persistent calls’ to the 999 service on November 9 and 21.
On the first occasion, shortly before 6pm, Ford said to the call handler: “I don’t know what I need yet, can I take people out in the village and kill them. If you don’t help me then I’ll do something.”
The call handler indicated that Mr Ford wasn’t making much sense and had been clearly drinking. Half an hour later, he phoned again, saying ‘you were going to send the police out an hour ago, don’t p*** me off’.
“It was again identified that he was intoxicated and at no point was he contacting the police for an emergency,” Lisa Jones, prosecuting, explained.
Officers then attended Mr Ford’s address due to specific concerns and he was taken to hospital for medical attention for an untreated condition.
He was located in Tanerdi in Carmarthen and arrested where he was taken to Ammanford custody suite. He was released and returned to hospital for treatment.
On November 21 at 5pm, Ford again phoned 999, saying that he had drank a bottle of whiskey and ‘couldn’t cope’.
Police officers attended his home address and had to force entry. Ford was found asleep on the sofa, and on being woken up he denied making calls and became abusive telling officers to ‘f*** off’ on a number of occasions.
The officers left the premises, but later that evening at around 8.15pm, Ford phoned the ambulance service, saying that he didn’t need assistance but he ‘hated life and was going to kill everyone’.
Police then returned to his property, and Ford once again insulted them, suggesting that he could become violent. He was warned of his misuse of the 999 system but denied making calls.
“Police rang his mobile, and this matched with the number that had continually badgered the emergency services,” Ms Jones commented.
When it was put to Ford in interview that he had threatened to ‘take people out’ he laughed, saying he had probably been drunk. However, he subsequently apologised for his actions. The court heard that Ford had a number of similar matters on his record, with the last conviction in 2013.
Speaking in mitigation, Richard Morgan said that Ford realised this was a serious matter.
“He gives his assurance that there’ll be no repeat episodes,” he added.
Mr Morgan explained that Ford suffered from a number of health problems, some of which resulted from a fractured skull which left him prone to blackouts and memory loss.
On the first occasion, Mr Morgan explained, medical problems had led Ford to panic and contact the emergency services.
On the second occasion, Ford had been drinking heavily to celebrate his birthday. “He was depressed and wasn’t making sense during the telephone calls. This man has a poor state of health and suffers with depression plus suicidal thoughts,” Mr Morgan added.
“These are two occasions based on entirely different circumstances. He is sorry for his actions though.”
Ford was given a 12 month community order, with a 15 day rehabilitation activity requirement, fined £140, and ordered to pay costs totalling £170.
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