Leigh Park woman jailed for making hundreds of nuisance 999 calls

Louise Hathaway, of Hampage Green, Leigh Park, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Friday after Portsmouth Crown Court heard she had made hundreds of 999 calls, that were often verbally abusive, despite an order prohibiting her from calling unless it was an emergency.

The 47-year-old admitted 65 counts of breaching the three-year criminal behaviour order, which was given to her by magistrates on May 31, 2019, and also prohibited her from possessing a mobile phone.

A previous court hearing heard that she called the emergency services 28 times in a single day and would mumble bizarre phrases including ‘I love you’.

Inspector Glen Stanford said the sentence was ‘a reminder that action will be taken against those who persistently abuse the 999 number’.

He said: ‘We take this seriously because nuisance calls take up valuable time that could be better spent talking to people in genuine need.

‘Receiving a high number of malicious calls directly affects the service we can give to other people.

‘Our local neighbourhood teams have been working throughout the pandemic to ensure we keep our communities safe through these already tough times. This relentless abuse of the emergency contact number persistently impacted on the call handlers’ ability to answer genuine calls.

‘It is disappointing to see Hathaway repeatedly ignore the criminal behaviour order she had received.

‘Neighbourhood officers have worked hard to achieve this result in court and this sentence will enable them to prioritise other areas within the community once again.

‘This sentence is a reminder that we will take action against those who persistently abuse the 999 number.’

Hathaway was also found guilty of two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

On March 24, 2019, Hathaway hit a paramedic on the arm after a crew were called to Nettlecombe Avenue, Southsea following a concern for welfare. He was not seriously injured.

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Following another fraudulent call on December 12, 2019, Hathaway spat at an officer.

Operations Manager Laura Parsonage added: ‘We take nuisance 999 calls extremely seriously, as they take up valuable time that could be better spent talking to people in genuine need.

‘Our Contact Management staff do a hugely important and demanding job, speaking to people who are often in very difficult, upsetting or dangerous situations.

‘When their time is wasted, it is most frustrating. They come to work to help the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

‘I want to remind people just how vital it is not to make inappropriate emergency calls. You could be stopping someone who has a real emergency from getting through to our call handlers.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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