Sheffield man jailed for 'inappropriate' calls to South Yorkshire Police's control room
19 calls were made to the Force
Last updated 14th Jun 2024
A man from Sheffield has been jailed for 18 weeks after 'bombarding' South Yorkshire Police's control room with inappropriate calls.
It happened between October 18th and 19th 2023.
The court heard 59-year-old Mark Clayton of Periwood Lane made 19 calls to the force without any appropriate reason - making sexual comments and false allegations
The 59-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge of sending an offensive / indecent / obscene / menacing message / matter by a public communication network and breaching a restraining order.
After failing to appear at Sheffield Crown Court, Clayton was found guilty in his absence.
Clayton was sentenced at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Monday (10 June) to 18 weeks in jail. He was also ordered to pay a £154 victim surcharge, £300 to cover costs and handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) which is valid for two years.
The CBO prohibits Clayton from doing the following:
- Making contact with any emergency service, the 999 or 101 emergency services number, or via email, text or any other method, except in a genuine emergency situation and shall not incite, encourage or instruct other persons to do so
- Using verbal abuse towards any operator of emergency services which prevent, hinders or restricts staff doing their job including using loud, abusive or sexualised language
- Making any reports to the Police unless he reasonably believes that the report is true and accurate.
PC Paul Brunt, the officer in charge of this case, said:
“Clayton’s actions took valuable time away from our call handlers who should have been assisting people experiencing genuine emergencies.
“Our staff carry out a high pressure job often helping people in their darkest hour and treating them with this lack of respect is shocking.
“I hope this result sends a strong message to those thinking of making prank calls to the police.”