Man narrowly avoids jail after three false 999 calls in one morning

A 35-year-old Portrush man has narrowly missed out on going to jail after making a series of nuisance calls to the emergency services, including three on one morning.

Christopher McCrory, of Glendun Close, Portrush entered guilty pleas to a number of charges of improper use of public communications at Coleraine Magistrates Court on Monday.

The court heard that at around 3.15am on July 18 2022, police received a 999 call from a man claiming he had been chased by another man with a knife.

Police attended the location of the call but found no sign of activity, noting the phone number to be linked to the defendant and his address.

At around 5.30am the same morning, police received another call from a man claiming to have been stabbed.

They attended the defendant's home, locating him in bed, where he denied making the call. Police observed no injuries and arrested the defendant.

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The defendant and her co-accused will appear again next month.

On three occasions in August 2022, the defendant also made a series of phone calls to the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) claiming bins had been set on fire.

On August 11, the NIFRS attended the area but found no sign of a bin on fire, with no response when they attempted to contact the caller.

A further call was received on August 17 with a similar claim. The call handler recognised the number and challenged the defendant, who replied that he had 'just purchased' the phone. The NIFRS did not attend on this occasion.

At around 8.40am on August 21, the NIFRS received another call from the same number, reporting yet another bin on fire in the Portrush area, with the NIFRS attending.

Three further calls were noted on the morning of September 9 2022, with the first received at 6.45am to say a bin was on fire at Glenarm Avenue.

The NIFRS responded to the call but found no signs of a bin on fire in the area, with no response when they attempted to contact the caller.

Another call was then received at 8.59am claiming a bin was on fire in the same area. The call handler challenged the caller, who immediately hung up. The NIFRS did not attend the call.

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Then at around 10.35am another call was received from the same number to say a car was on fire at Glenbush Drive. Again the caller hung up when challenged and the NIFRS did not attend.

The prosecution told the court that the NIFRS were seeking a compensation order of £856 for the cost of wasted time.

Defence said McCrory had accepted the offences at police interview, with Judge King telling the defendant he was listening carefully to the dates.

He noted the offending had stopped on September 9, therefore not triggering a previous suspended sentence, telling the defendant that had the incidents occurred on September 12, he would have been going to prison.

The judge sentenced the defendant to a total of five months in prison, suspended for a period of one year and imposed a compensation order of £500 to be paid to the NIFRS.

He said had he imposed the full compensation order, it would have been 'prison by the back door' for the defendant.

“You are racking up the potential to go to prison for a very long time,” Judge King told the defendant.