Peterborough man who made more than 200 abusive hoax calls to police jailed

Nasir Shah (34) was arrested on August 10 after the force received a large number of phone calls on both the 999 emergency and 101 non-emergency contact lines.

The calls had begun on July 22 when Shah dialled 999 21 times and 101 19 times. He made racial and sexual remarks as well as violent threats to the call handlers during each of the calls.

Shah made a further 21 abusive hoax calls in the early hours of August 10 which prompted his arrest at the Brewery Tap pub in Westgate later that evening for malicious communications and breach of the peace.

In every 999 call he made Shah would cause disruption by singing down the phone, shouting and being verbally abusive towards call handlers. He would also make up alleged stabbings and assaults, resulting in crime’s being raised and investigation time wasted.

During one of his calling sprees Shah rang 999 36 times in 30 minutes and 26 times in 15 minutes on another day, resulting in a large strain on resources and availability to answer emergency calls.

Following his release from custody on bail on September 11, Shah dialled 999 the very next day and has made more than 153 hoax 999 calls since.

Shah, of Kesteven Walk, Eastgate, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (Thursday). He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, ordered to complete 25 days rehabilitation activity requirement and given a £50 fine.

PC Jessica Martin, who investigated, said: “There is a huge strain on our demand hub with callers like Shah putting lives at risk when they block up the phone lines with hoax calls.

“Shah would often verbally abuse the call handlers with racist and sexual remarks. He would also create make up crimes and would even ring 999 to let us know his home made mint sauce recipe.

“The misuse of our 999 service will not be tolerated, nor will abusive behaviour towards our call handlers. They are here to help people in need of emergency assistance and do not deserve to be verbally abused.”

For more information on hoax calling and what to do if you know someone is abusing police contact lines, visit https://www.cambs.police.uk/information-and-services/Contact/Hoax-calling.