Hampshire man Simon Beynon from Overton jailed for making 45 nuisance calls to police in one evening

Simon Beynon, 45, from Pond Close, Overton, appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday, August 31, and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

It comes after Beynon was found guilty of making dozens of nuisance phone calls across the night of Saturday, October 23, 2021.

At 9.36pm Beynon made his first call to the police control room on his mobile phone and did so intermittently into the following morning - a total of 45 times.

On each occasion, Beynon did not speak to call takers, but only muffled noises were discernible and he ignored their interactions.

By 10.06pm, he had already called 21 times and during this call a television could be heard in the background.

By calling 999 without a genuine emergency, Beynon had breached a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order from May following a conviction in April for the same offence.

Supt Anna Skelton, Contact Management Senior Delivery Manager, said: ‘Our staff carry out a high pressure job, often dealing with people in their darkest hour, so to treat them with such a lack of respect is appalling.

‘In recent weeks, we have been dealing with extremely high call volumes from the public, so this is a timely reminder to only dial 999 in an emergency. I hope this sentence sends out a strong message that making prank calls to 999 is a serious offence that could result in imprisonment.’