Michael Gibson, 50, unemployed, of North Road, Brighton, appeared at Lewes Crown Court on July 6 to answer the charges for breaching the order that prevented him from calling 999 except in an emergency.

Gibson was first arrested in July 2014 when he called police and ambulance services a number of times, but was then abusive to the police officers and paramedics who attended his fake calls for help.

He continued to make the nuisance calls and following numerous breaches of a CBO made by Brighton Magistrates’ Court on September 28, 2017, he was arrested for breaking bail conditions in April this year when he was found in possession of two mobile phones, which he had been banned from owning.

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One of our informants explained how Gibson would ‘call up to 50 times per shift’ and would ‘call staff all numbers under the sun’.

They said: ‘Gibson would often spit at and abuse crews’.

During Gibson tirade of abusive calls, people who would have made genuine 999 calls could have had their genuine pleas for help delayed by Gibsons antics.

When you dial 999, if all of the 999 Call Handlers are on calls, then you will be put into a ‘queue’ until the next 999 operator becomes free.

Anyone who has had to dial 999 in a life-or-death situation and who has had to wait an extended time for their call to be answered, will be able to relate to the sort of impact time-wasters such as Gibson have on the service.

Gibson pleaded guilty at an earlier magistrates’ court hearing and was sent to Crown Court for sentencing where he received 16 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £140.

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Sarah-Louise Gliddon from Sussex Police’s Force Contact, Command and Control department, said: “People who persistently make nuisance calls to the emergency services place an enormous strain on the system and potentially block genuine calls needing immediate life-saving responses.

“Gibson continued to make these calls even after being arrested on a number of occasions, even after having a CBO placed on him and even after the efforts of several support services to help him deal with his problem.

“This sentence sends out a clear message to people who persist in plaguing emergency call-handlers with their nuisance calls that their anti-social and possible life-threatening activities will not be tolerated and will be punished.”