'˜Decrepit' hoax caller who has plagued 999 lines for a decade

Police were plagued with 999 calls from Hunter

District Judge John Maxwell told 71-year-old Arthur Hunter he was a “damned nuisance” because of his persistent 999 calls to police.

In some of the calls, drunken Hunter of Linden Place, Bispham apologised for making the calls.

Hunter, who admitted breaching a criminal behaviour order banning him from making calls to the emergency services, was told by the judge: “Do you like prison food? This has been going on for 10 years. I am fearful you will fall over. You are intoxicated once again today. You are only a couple of years older than me but you are decrepit.

“Keep on drinking a litre of vodka a day and you won’t see 75. You are a damned nuisance – you even phone up police to apologise for phoning them up.

“However these are nuisance rather than malicious calls. If they were malicious you would be going to prison to put you out of circulation.”

Hunter, who was in breach of a suspended jail sentence, was put on a four week curfew from 5pm to 5am. He was also given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £165 costs.

After being sentenced, Hunter told the judge: “I think I know what you are on about.”

Hugh Pond, defending, said: “This man drinks a bottle of vodka a day. He has no-one to talk to and no one visits him. He has children but they do not contact him.

“He has got a phone and the only thing he does is ring 999. The only way to stop this behaviour is to have his phone removed.”