Man sentenced as police share one of many abusive and aggressive 999 calls

A man has been sentenced to 14 weeks in prison for a spate of racist and abusive 999 calls to Greater Manchester Police.

On 20 July, before even getting through to police operators, the man made sexually abusive, racist and homophobic calls to BT operators, but cut off prior to BT connecting to police.

The man phoned 999 again, and was put through to one of our police call handlers, following constant swearing and racist abuse on the call, he was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications.

Again, on Tuesday 15 August he phoned 999, and continued to be racist and abusive towards call handlers and this call led to his further arrest.

In total, there were at least nine calls all from the same man with the same racist and abusive messages.

*TRIGGER WARNING - although parts of the audio have been removed, the content of the video may be difficult to watch*

An investigation was promptly launched by Bury’s Neighbourhood Crime Team which resulted in the man getting charged and subsequently found guilty in court of one count of malicious communications, and two counts of racially aggravated harassment.

Force Contact Centre Manager Matt Hindmarch, said: “Not only are these calls deeply offensive and hard to listen to, they could have blocked a number of other members of the public who could be calling 999 in a real emergency, keeping people in danger and making them waiting for longer and putting lives at risk.

“Members of public waiting for their 999 call to be answered may have had this man and many others who think it’s acceptable to waste police time and resources, in front of them in the queue. Preventing them from receiving the help they need in a timely manner.

“I’d like to thank our colleagues across the force who have relentlessly pursued this case to bring the man to justice.

“Our force contact call handlers come into work every day and strive to provide an excellent service to those calling 999 in what could be the worst day of someone’s life to help them and provide them with reassurance that our officers are on the way and responding. Call handlers should not have to endure being spoken to in this manner for doing their job.

“We continue to monitor these types of calls and collate their phone numbers and identities to use in an investigation to take them through the courts and bring them to justice for their actions.

“Even having one hoax caller can put numerous lives at risk as it diverts our attention away from the people who really need our help in communities across Greater Manchester.

“I hope this serves as a warning for anyone who intends on misusing the 999 system, which is used for emergencies only. It is not something we deal with lightly and will seek to prosecute those misusing the service.

“If you are in a situation where you need to speak to the police, please think before you call. The use of the 999 system is for emergencies only and we have other ways you can speak with us by either using 101 for non-emergencies or reporting to us on gmp.police.uk.”