Neil McAvery: Man found guilty for 'persistently' making 999 calls to 'waste police time'

Police said “nuisance” Neil McAvery, 50, of Omega Street in Southsea, phoned the emergency number 38 times between December 2023 and May 2024. On all occasions there was no genuine emergency for McAvery to report and he stated on numerous calls that he “wanted to waste police time” and stated “this is fun this, wasting your time”.

McAvery was sentenced a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) after appearing at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday 30 January, where he pleaded guilty to 10 counts of persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance/inconvenience/anxiety.

The sentence will last for the next two years and requires him for the not to make any further nuisance calls to the emergency services and to only call the emergency services when there is a genuine emergency. He was also given a suspended sentence of six weeks imprisonment.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police said: “Please only call 999 when in a real genuine emergency. Calling when not an emergency, or to ‘waste police time’ can result in blocking the 999 system, which may prevent other members of the public who genuinely have an emergency from getting through. In the worst case scenario, this could cost lives.”