Bognor Man Jailed After Hoax 999 Call Over Workplace Revenge

Saturday, 6 March 2021 06:00

By Charlotte Baker @Ch4rtweets

A man from Bognor has been jailed for 10 months after making a hoax 999 call about a colleague he wanted revenge on.

Police said 26-year-old Ashley Hall, of The Nurseries in Bognor Regis made the call on the afternoon of June 26.

He reported seeing a man waving a machete out of a car in the Burgess Hill area.

This resulted in significant emergency response involving over 20 officers, including armed police.

The defendant gave officers the vehicle registration and it was traced to a location in Brighton, prompting police to close roads so the suspect, thought to be in possession of a weapon, could be safely detained.

At no point did he claim to know the victim.

The victim was detained in Brighton and interviewed by officers who determined he was not in possession of a weapon and had not been in Burgess Hill at the time of the allegation.

In police interviews, Hall admitted the report he made to police about the victim was untrue.

He confessed that he wanted to get the victim in trouble following a workplace disagreement and wished to scare him by calling police.

Hall pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at Lewes Crown Court on 2 December.

On 26 February he appeared at the same court and was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment.

CI Roy Hodder said:

"This fabricated event wasted a huge amount of police time and resources which is completely unacceptable.

"Our priority is to ensure callers get through as quickly as possible so we can respond swiftly to genuine emergencies and be where we are needed the most.

"We will not let people get away with putting lives at risk through hoax calls and I'd like to thank the officers who worked on this investigation and helped to bring Hall to justice for his irresponsible actions.

"We take every call we receive seriously so would urge people to make the right call and please only dial 999 in a genuine emergency. For non-urgent police matters please report online or call 101.

"To see if your concern is a police matter please see check our website here."