A drunk woman bombarded 999 staff with nuisance calls – including one about rape and another in which she claimed to be a vampire who wanted a Pot Noodle.
Pauline Stafford, 54, had only just been released from prison when she began repeatedly calling the emergency services.
And a week later she was back behind bars after being arrested for abusing the emergency call system.
Sheriff Gary Aitken told Stafford, of Kirkside, Alness: “The emergency services have got plenty to deal with without drunk people or bored people deciding to phone them up.”
Stafford appeared for sentencing at Tain Sheriff Court having previously pled guilty to a single charge of making use of a public electronic communications network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety by repeatedly contacting the Police Service of Scotland in the absence of an emergency.
Fiscal depute Robyn Macleod told the court that the calls started on July 15, when she told a call handler she had a son serving in the armed forces who was missing in action and that she was unable to sleep.
Woman told police she was a vampire
“The reason for not being able to sleep was that she was a vampire,” Ms Macleod added.
She also said that she was hungry and asked the emergency service to “bring her a Pot Noodle.”
Stafford also made reference to women walking about the streets and being raped.
When police arrived at her home to carry out a welfare check, Stafford told officers that she had called them because she wanted to show them her new front door and to complain about the poor maintenance of her garden.
The following day the woman resumed her calling campaign, this time telling the operator that she needed something to smoke.
She then claimed to have seen the Duchess of Cornwall and said that her bank card was missing and thousands of pounds had been stolen.
A short time later she made a call claiming a friend was suffering from a heart attack, and another telling police that she was “an ex-para”.
On July 20 she made a call alleging that she had been involved in a domestic incident and claiming that a seven-year-old child had been present.
Officers attended at her address and confirmed that no such child existed.
On July 22 Stafford was arrested and charged two days later and taken to Burnett Road Police Station.
‘A very difficult relationship with alcohol’
Solicitor Roger Webb, for Stafford said his client had jeopardised her new-found freedom as a result of her behaviour.
He said: “Ms Stafford was released from prison on the Friday and back in custody the Friday after.”
Mr Webb explained that Stafford’s issues were exacerbated by alcohol use and said: “This lady has a very difficult relationship with alcohol and some mental health problems to go with it.”
He said Stafford had managed to stay out of trouble since her first appearance over this matter and highlighted that she was someone who benefited from supervision while at liberty.
Sheriff Aitken sentenced Stafford to a community payback order with 12 months’ supervision.
