A CHARD man who made a total of 20 calls to the 999 emergency system in less than eight hours claiming a male had fallen down some stairs then became abusive towards the call handlers.

Michael Arthur Straw had downed a litre of whiskey and some rum and continued to block the line with his tirade of abuse.

When the emergency services responded to the initial request they were met with so much aggression that they were unable to offer any treatment, a court at Yeovil was told.

After being arrested a few days later the defendant had absolutely no recall of what happened but said he woke up the following morning with his flat in a mess and accepted he may have kicked off.

Straw, 55, formerly of Winsham but currently living in Bath Road, Bridgwater, pleaded guilty that on February 7 he persistently made use of a public electronic communications network for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another.

Prosecutor Julyan Stephens told District Judge David Taylor that the defendant made a call from his home address in Chard to the 999 emergency system and then made 19 more in less than six hours.

“The first call was made at 1.40pm from Straw saying they needed an ambulance to attend because another male had fallen down the stairs,” he said.

“They turned up but were not able to offer any treatment due to the level of aggression they were met with.”

19 further calls followed between then and 8.12pm with Straw making numerous claims including that the police had beaten up his friend, screaming down the phone, saying he was suicidal and using foul and abusive language.

“He told one of the call handlers to f*** off and called her a bitch and the police diverted the calls to the abusive caller line,” said Mr Stephens.

“Clearly Straw was under the influence of alcohol and he was warned about the purpose of the 999 system and was also told it was an offence to use it for abusive purposes.”

The defendant was arrested on a different day and when interviewed could not recall the situation due to his level of intoxication, the court heard.

Mr Stephens said: “He said he had drunk rum and a litre of whiskey and could only remember making the initial call because his friend had been injured,” he added.

“He woke the following morning to find his flat in a mess and said he may have kicked off but could not remember. He accepted making the phone calls and showed remorse.”

Defending, Sam Morton said that Straw had since managed to get his drinking under control and was also receiving support in terms of helping with his housing issues.

The case was adjourned to July 4 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. Until then Straw was released on unconditional bail.