Man who made hoax 999 call while drunk is sentenced

Thomas Lund, 30, who had drunk 10 pints of beer and a bottle of spirits, sparked off a huge emergency response involving 28 police and medical personnel, heard Skipton Magistrates' Court.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. Lund was also banned from drinking alcohol for 90 days.

In his call from Kettlewell, in the Yorkshire Dales, at just after 11pm on December 28 last year Lund asked for police and an ambulance because someone 'had been shot with a .22 rifle' and there was 'lots of blood'. The line then went dead, and the call handler was unable to regain contact.

The response from emergency services included eight armed police, a police dog and handler, and a medical helicopter which had to return to base because of the weather conditions at the time, including flooding.

The cost to the ambulance service was put at £8,000 while North Yorkshire Police said it would have severely compromised the force's ability to react to another incident had one occurred, the court heard both at the first hearing and again last week when Lund was sentenced following a probation report.

On arriving at The Blue Bell Inn in the village, from where the call had been made, police found another ambulance, which had responded separately, and was treating a woman who had suffered an adverse reaction to a cannabis vape.

Officers located Lund who responded he had just wanted someone there before then denying he had made the call.

The court heard the response had been commensurate because Lund had been convicted of the assault of his father the year before and had been on an 18-month community order at the time. His father also held a firearm license.

Lund, who was supported in court by his father and his heavily pregnant partner, admitted causing wasteful employment of police at his first appearance in court.

In mitigation, Julian White said at his sentencing that Lund had matured, had reconciled with his father, was in a settled relationship, and was living back at the farm family home in Kettlewell.

His partner was expecting their child and he had resumed his fabrication business, which had been suspended when he had left the village for a while.

He said: "There has been difficulties with his father, but Thomas has matured and his father is here in court to support him.

"He is self-employed with a fabrication business on the farm premises, he is reconciled with his father, he is in a relationship and expecting a baby and has a bright future. He is a decent young man who did an absolutely stupid thing, sending him to prison would be catastrophic."

Magistrates said it was a very serious matter that had been fuelled by alcohol and sentenced him to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. It would have been 18 weeks had he not pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Lund's previous 18-month sentence for the assault of his father in November, 2022, was revoked and he was re-sentenced to a new 18-month order requiring him to carry out up to 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 120 hours unpaid work.

He was also ordered to comply with alcohol abstinence monitoring for 90 days, involving the fitting of an electronic tag. He was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £154 and costs of £85.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “Misuse of the 999 system is extremely irresponsible. Hoax calls can put lives in danger as they divert our ambulances away from those who are in genuine need of time-critical medical help."