According to the High Court, a woman from County Antrim reportedly requested that police and ambulance personnel maintain her heating as part of over 50 nuisance calls, reports RTE.
According to the prosecution, Beverly Compton allegedly called the emergency services to ask for a lift after having trouble hailing a cab.
The 66-year-old resident of Lisburn’s Windermere Grove is accused of persistently abusing a communications network and wasting police time by fabricating concerns for her safety.
She was given bail with the explicit condition that she not make any more pointless 999 calls, reports RTE.
According to the court, Ms. Compton is charged with making 56 nuisance calls between October 16 and October 23 of this year.
She claimed to have stabbed herself in some communications, but paramedics found she was unharmed when they got to her house, reports RTE.
On other instances, according to the crown attorney, Ms. Compton called the PSNI and the Ambulance Service to ask for other kinds of help.
“She asked to get a lift to hospital as a taxi was not near, and asked to have her heating fixed,” the lawyer claimed, reports RTE.
Counsel argued against bail, saying, “We are concerned that she will continue to offend, wasting resources which are in short supply.”
In defence, Peter Coliley contended that Ms. Compton’s claimed actions may be connected to her social isolation and dissatisfaction with her accommodations.
“She either denies making the calls or (says) there was a necessity in her view for the calls to have been made,” Mr Coiley said, reports RTE.
“Perhaps a more minor issue… of getting heating to work becomes a major issue, there’s a perception that this requires help from the emergency services and her first port of call is to lift the phone to the police,” reports RTE.
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