A man who bombarded police with fake and abusive 999 calls has blamed it on strong painkillers.
Jonathan Murray, 58, has been legally banned from making malicious calls to the emergency services but that didn’t stop him.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told he made repeated calls to report incidents of historic sexual abuse before turning abusive.
Murray claims he does not remember dialing 999 and put the offences down to strong painkiller Tramadol.
He stated that he suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome and had “diminished responsibility” due to the effects of the drug.
Accused made false calls reporting abuse
Fiscal depute Emma Petersen told the court that around 4am on May 31 2020 police had received six “slurred reports” of sexual abuse.
She added: “At around 10am the accused again called the police on 999 to report incidents of historic sexual abuse.
“Due to concerns for the accused, there was an emergency response sent to his address – but they found him safe and well.
“He thereafter stated that he didn’t make the calls and told police officers to ‘f**k off’.
“Officers warned him about the continuous calling and left.”
However, less than an hour later Murray placed eight further calls to the police and four later that afternoon that included “slurred abusive comments”.
Murray, who has two previous convictions for similar offences dating back to 2019, admitted one charge of breaching his ASBO by making repeated false, malicious and abusive 999 calls to police.
In 2010, Murray admitted making threats to workers at an Aberdeen security firm after calling to find out if he had been successful at a job interview.
He also got in trouble with bosses at his previous employer, GE Oil and Gas, by making threats over the phone to kill staff.
‘I call those the Tramadol days’
Murray, who represented himself, described the period of offending as “the Tramadol days”.
He added: “I should never have been prescribed them – they are dark agents.
“But I have not offended in the last two years after I stopped taking the Tramadol.”
Sheriff William Summers told Murray that he had a number of previous convictions “that seem to be broadly similar to what you are facing today”.
He deferred sentence on Murray until next month in order for a criminal justice social work report to be carried out.
Sheriff Summers also asked that Murray, of Ruthrieston Gardens, Aberdeen, produce a medical report to support the claims he made in court.
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