A MAN has been sentenced for persistently contacting the police and making more than 200 abusive hoax calls.
Nasir Shah, 34, was arrested on 10 August after Cambridgeshire Constabulary received a large number of phone calls on both the 999 emergency and 101 non-emergency contact lines.
The calls had begun on the 22 July, when Shah dialled 999 21 times and 101 19 times.
He made racial and sexual remarks as well as violent threats to the call handlers during each of the calls.
The image above is taken from the call log between 03:58 and 04:30 on 18 September (2019). Shah dialled 999 32 times and continued to do so until 5 am. Credit: Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Shah made a further 21 abusive hoax calls in the early hours of the 10 August which prompted his arrest at the Brewery Tap, Peterborough, later that evening for malicious communications and breach of the peace.
In every 999 call he made, Shah would cause disruption by singing down the phone, shouting and being verbally abusive towards call handlers.
He would also make up alleged stabbings and assaults, resulting in crime’s being raised and investigation time wasted.
During one of his calling sprees, Shah rang 999 36 times in 30 minutes and 26 times in 15 minutes on another day, resulting in a large strain on resources and availability to answer emergency calls.
Following his release from custody on bail on 11 September, Shah dialled 999 the very next day and has made more than 153 hoaxes 999 calls since.
Shah, of Kesteven Walk, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (2 January).
He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, ordered to complete 25 days rehabilitation activity requirement and given a £50 fine.
PC Jessica Martin, who investigated, said:
“There is a huge strain on our demand hub with callers like Shah putting lives at risk when they block up the phone lines with hoax calls.
“Shah would often verbally abuse the call handlers with racist and sexual remarks.
“He would also create make up crimes and would even ring 999 to let us know his homemade mint sauce recipe.
“The misuse of our 999 service will not be tolerated, nor will abusive behaviour towards our call handlers. They are here to help people in need of emergency assistance and do not deserve to be verbally abused.”
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Why wasn’t he thrown into prison? The justice system is f****d.
Many years ago I was briefly posted to the radio room in a large town just west of London.2 stories are recounted from night duties both featuring Asian voices on the 999 line terminating in that room. One was from a householder complaining of a water board contractor who had a pump draining an excavation and running overnight and keeping his children awake. Informed that Police had no jurisdiction and he should phone the waterboard and not Police, the reply was he had already done that and he had been advised by the call handler to ‘F… Off, He demanded the telephone number of the head of the water board. He was given a number as close as possible to the head of the water board. Unfortunately he was mistakenly supplied with a number ‘What is on in London’ in German – As he never phoned back I assume the phone call achieved its ends The second Asian telephoned three nines to enquire if he could shoot squirrels in his garden with his sons air rifle? The caller was advised to call the police station and the number and extension supplied. The incoming call was heard being answered at the switchboard and panel on my console illuminated. The police response was given ” No you cant you squirrel murdering B*d. My posting to the control room was short lived and I returned to the freedom of my old panda car.
Surely there might be some way of blocking his calls after the first 5 or 6? It seems ridiculous that he is getting away with so much disruption and abuse.