A phone pest who abused ambulance service personnel when he was drunk escaped a jail sentence yesterday.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 56-year-old Colin Morton, of Muirtown Court, Inverness, had been badly injured in a road accident and suffered constant pain.
His lawyer Clare Russell told Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood that her client self-medicated with alcohol and would become “frustrated with the pain” and reacted in an abusive manner.
Morton had previously admitted to making nuisance calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service between July 2 and 4 last year seeking assistance when there was no medical need.
He also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards ambulance staff in Cavell Gardens, Inverness, on July 4.
Sentence had been deferred for a background report.
Previously, depute fiscal Rowena Carlton told the court that eight calls had been made to the ambulance service in the space of 48 hours.
She added: “In essence they were stating he had drunk too much and on each occasion no medical aid was needed.
“The final call on July 4 was made by a member of the public on behalf of the accused who was intoxicated.
“Two paramedics attended at Cavell Gardens at 1.15pm, spoke to the accused, and he behaved in a threatening manner saying he was going to get people down to bash them.”
Ordering Morton to carry out 110 hours of unpaid community work, Sheriff Fleetwood told him: “The emergency services are there to assist those people in genuine distress and not to be pestered by drunks like you.
“When they respond to calls, they shouldn’t be subjected to behaviour like this.”
