A grandmother who threatened to bomb the police has walked free from court but a judge warned she is is in "last chance saloon."
Donna Williams, 53, of Fieldway Court in Birkenhead who has 44 convictions for 83 previous offences, some involving false messages about firearms and bombs, called 999 for the police on December 17 last year and said: "You are getting bombed."
The operator knew about previous threats Williams had made, asked if she was Donna and if they had upset her in some way, Liverpool Echo reported.
Williams repeatedly said: "You are getting bombed."
The operator asked if she wanted police dispatched to her address and she responded: “If you want.”
Williams was then arrested and when interviewed said she could not remember making the call, although later admitted it was her when the recorded call was played to her.
Appearing in Liverpool Crown Court this morning (Tuesday 15 June) where she pleaded guilty to communicating false information, the court heard that Williams had a string of convictions for similar offences, some of which she had previously been jailed for.
Last May, Williams was jailed for 13 months after threatening to cut a rail worker with a broken bottle in West Kirby station while drunk after repeatedly punching the member of security staff.
Officers had been called to the station following reports of a group of drunk people on a train, without tickets and being verbally abusive to staff on April 5, while while the country was in strict lockdown.
iverpool Crown Court heard that Williams had now become a grandmother and Judge David Swinnerton said to the defendant: "You are in last chance saloon" as he imposed a suspended prison sentence.
The judge urged Williams, who was appearing for the 11th time in court for such offences, to consider how she would feel if urgent help was delayed for her grandchild because emergency operators were occupied with bogus calls.
John Weate, prosecuting, said, “She is now at a crossroads.”
"For many years she had been involved in a “revolving door syndrome” of going in and out of prison but she now has the benefit of a probation officer and support worker.
“They are both involved in trying to ensure she comes through this period in her life successfully.
"They seem to have everything in place and they fully understand her background and emotional baggage that has pulled her down over many many years.”
Mr Weate said her son and daughter were supporting her and she is now a grandmother. “For the first time in a long time she has a chance of maintaining a stable environment. “
He added that she is also volunteering in a shop which is another positive aspect of her life.
Judge Swinnerton sentenced her to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered her to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and 20 days rehabilitation.
He said he had read reports showing she now has support and is making good progress and that giving her a final chance would enable her to break the cycle of offending and imprisonment.
Judge Swinnerton said: “People dialling 999 with genuine emergencies cannot get through if people like you are making these sort of hoax calls.”
“Just imagine if your grandchild needed an ambulance urgently and you could not get through because someone like you was making nuisance calls like these.
"I would like you to think about that if you are ever tempted again like that.”
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