A HEREFORD man has avoided prison after making abusive 999 calls.

Victor Collett appeared before magistrates in Hereford for sentencing after previously admitting breaching a criminal behaviour order and persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience, or anxiety.

Prosecutor Mark Hambling said Collett had made three abusive calls to emergency services between May 28 and June 1, which he was prohibited from doing by his criminal behaviour order.

The calls, which in total lasted more than half an hour, Mr Hambling said, were misogynistic and abusive, with Collett using expletives towards call handlers and threatening to kill himself. 

Mr Hambling said that in his view the calls amounted to a persistent breach of the order and that the custody threshold had not only been passed, but surpassed.

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Edmund Middleton, for Collett, said the 37-year-old had made the 999 calls after spending an "inordinate" amount of time trying to speak to the Samaritans.

"There is no evidence that this offence caused upset or distress, and it is not accepted that these were false calls," Mr Middleton said.

"He is vulnerable and made these calls having been unable to get through to other services. He was not making bogus calls saying there is a bomb somewhere but he was making threats on his own life. The calls were not appropriate, and they were persistent, but that is not the same as a false call."

Mr Middleton said Collett has a variety of mental health problems and finds it difficult to communicate with others.

Magistrates said they were departing from their sentencing guidelines and would not be sending Collett to prison as he is working hard with the probation service and other support services to tackle his issues and that sending him to prison would mean he would lose that support.

Collett, of Campbell Road, Hereford, was handed a nine-month conditional discharge and must pay costs and a victim surcharge.

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