Blackpool woman jailed after making thousands of "vile" calls threatening to attack police officers with firearms and bombs

Tracey Partington, 41, of Hornby Road, has pleaded guilty to harassment after making daily calls to police threatening to attack officers with firearms and explosive devices.

Partington’s campaign of harassment began in 2017 and led to her being jailed for four months in 2018.

But following her release, Partington resumed her daily harassment and continued to bombard police with her threatening messages.

One officer in particular was subjected to more than 1,000 text messages which have been described as "vile and disgusting content".

Lancashire Police said her behaviour had a detrimental effect on both the well-being of staff and on the force’s ability to respond to genuine emergencies after they were tied up investigating her false claims.

The force said each threat had to be logged and assessed, with resources deployed to see whether the threat was credible.

She then tried to cover her tracks by using different mobile phones to send her vile messages before she was arrested in September last year.

Partington was sentenced yesterday (Tuesday, January 21) to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to harassment and breaching a restraining order between September and October 2019.

She was also given a lifetime restraining order and banned from contacting Lancashire Police or its employees except in a genuine matter requiring police involvement.

Detective Chief Inspector Lee Wilson said her behaviour caused "extreme demand and stress in the Force Control Room".

"These were deployed to, depleting the force’s ability to answer genuine calls for service.

"Suffice to say Ms Partington has proved to be a recurring, unpleasant and difficult thorn in the side of Lancashire Police for several years now and I welcome the sentence which will hopefully mitigate the impact of her behaviour."