VIDEO: A man has been sent to prison after he made 17 hoax calls to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in just 3 hours.
Excerpts from recordings of Michael Eames’ phone conversations have been made public by the organisation – who handle the Isle of Wight’s calls to the fire service – following a spike in the number of people misusing the emergency 999 facility.
The 23-year-old from Winchester persistently called the control room on Christmas Eve claiming that a person was trapped in a burning building. He also contacted other emergency services. In total 4 engines were mobilised at an approximate cost of more than £300 each.
On 23rd January this year he was sentenced to 12 weeks behind bars and is now subject to a 2-year restraining order.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service is hoping to hammer home the message that hoax calls cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds a year and put lives at risk.
The appeal comes after figures show hoax calls to the fire service going up by more than 60% in the past 4 years. Statistics reveal that in 2014 the service received 183 hoax calls but by 2015 the number had risen to 192 before climbing to 231 in 2016 and 295 in 2017.
Station Manager of Control Allison Burrows has said:
“The custodial sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime. Hoax calls waste our time, costs the public money and, more worryingly, really do put lives at risk. We hope the recordings help show this.
Article continues below this advertisement “I am extremely proud of the team for the rigorous yet professional way they exposed the caller with a series of challenging questions until he hung up.
“On further calls they tried to explain the seriousness of his actions and the potential life-threatening consequences while also urging him to get support for himself.”
