Pest jailed for making hoax calls to Derbyshire fire service so he could contact firefighter brother

A time-wasting nuisance has been jailed after making hoax calls to Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service so he could contact his firefighter brother.
Pictured is nuisance-caller Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, who has been jailed for six weeks after admitting making hoax 999 calls in Bolsover to Derbyshire fire service.Pictured is nuisance-caller Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, who has been jailed for six weeks after admitting making hoax 999 calls in Bolsover to Derbyshire fire service.
Pictured is nuisance-caller Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, who has been jailed for six weeks after admitting making hoax 999 calls in Bolsover to Derbyshire fire service.

Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to six weeks in prison and must pay £600 compensation for making three hoax emergency 999 calls at Main Street, Carr Vale, in Bolsover.

Chesterfield magistrates' court heard on March 15 how Mawby pleaded guilty to persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety on January 20, 22 and 25.

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The offence used up £600 of taxpayers' money and wasted one hour and 39 minutes of the fire service's time, according to the fire service.

Pictured is nuisance-caller Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, who has been jailed for six weeks after admitting making hoax 999 calls in Bolsover to Derbyshire fire service.Pictured is nuisance-caller Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, who has been jailed for six weeks after admitting making hoax 999 calls in Bolsover to Derbyshire fire service.
Pictured is nuisance-caller Craig Mawby, 36, of no fixed abode, who has been jailed for six weeks after admitting making hoax 999 calls in Bolsover to Derbyshire fire service.

Following the conviction, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service Station manager Paul Green said: “Hoax calls are taken extremely seriously as they have a serious impact on the safety of others, as well as costing the service time and money.

“Each time the service responds to a hoax call, it means valuable lifesaving resources are tied up and are unavailable to attend real emergencies.”

The fire service stated that Mawby made three hoax calls in total with each reporting a fire on the same road in Bolsover and each resulted in two fire engines being sent to the scene.

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The court heard the offence was aggravated because the premeditated reason behind the calls was that the defendant wanted his firefighter brother to be called out to allow him to go and see his father so he could get money from him.

Chesterfield magistrates' court.Chesterfield magistrates' court.
Chesterfield magistrates' court.

Derbyshire’s deputy chief fire officer Gavin Tomlinson said: “I hope this conviction serves as a stark warning, making it clear that the fire and rescue service will not tolerate hoax calls.

“The hoax calls made by Mr Mawby resulted in several fire appliances being tied up for a total of one hour and 39 minutes, putting lives at risk as well as costing the service approximately £600 of tax payers' money.

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“In addition to the fire engines that were tied up responding to these calls, 999 emergency calls handlers were also prevented from dealing with real life emergencies whilst dealing with the hoax calls.

“The service will work with colleagues at Derbyshire Constabulary to investigate any hoax calls and where appropriate, seek a prosecution.”

Magistrates committed Craig Mawby to six weeks of custody, ordered him to pay £600 compensation and imposed a two-year restraining order.