A 62-YEAR-OLD man from Barry has been handed a prison sentence after he assaulted a police officer who attended his home following a series of hoax 999 calls.
Newport Crown Court heard how Francis Page, of Claude Road West, made three explicit calls to South Wales Police on 15 July, each lasting around one minute.
Prosecutor Jac Brown told the court that in the first call, Page dialled 999 and asked for the police, but he then abandoned the call. The male operator, following standard procedure, rang back to ask Page what the emergency was. Page appeared out of breath and said, “I’m masturbating”, at which point the operator told him the call would be terminated as there was no “imminent risk”.
A short time later, a female operator took another 999 call from Page, but it was unclear what he was saying, and he then told her, “I’ve been a naughty boy”. The operator asked Page what the emergency was, and he again said, “I’m masturbating” while breathing heavily. The operator then terminated the call.
Mr Brown said Page was not charged in relation to the third 999 call.
When police attended Page’s home, he appeared to be highly intoxicated, and he became irate and aggressive when arrested.
When Page was interviewed, he made full admissions and apologised for his earlier behaviour, and in court, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sending an indecent, grossly offensive, or threatening message and one count of assaulting an emergency worker.
The court heard that Page had 21 previous convictions for 31 offences, including sexual matters, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assaulting a police officer, and disorderly behaviour.
At the time of the hearing, Page was also subject to a suspended sentence, when in July last year he appeared before Swansea Crown Court where he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, for breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Adam Sharp, mitigating on behalf of Page said: “His best mitigation is he has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
“He was in the throws of something of a mental breakdown. He was struggling to cope with social interactions. He regressed to using alcohol. He’s led a relatively isolated existence.”
Mr Sharp said Page was ashamed of his behaviour and the way he had “ranted” at police following his arrest, and that being in custody since 16 July has had a “profound impact” on him.
Judge Carl Harrison told Page police call handlers have a difficult job to do at the best of times without having to deal with calls like those he made which had not only been “disgusting and upsetting” but had also wasted time and diverted staff away from helping people with real emergencies.
With discounts for his guilty pleas, Page was sentenced to four weeks in prison for the communications offences and four months for assaulting a police officer, to run concurrently.
Judge Harrison activated six months of the previously imposed suspended sentence meaning he was given a total of 10 months in prison.
Page will spend up to half the 10 months in prison before being released on licence to serve the remainder of his sentence in the community.
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