A man has been handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting emergency services after he was found to have made a series of hoax calls providing false information.
Officers from Rochdale reported that an unnamed male, aged 52, has been convicted this week of making hoax calls.
He has been convincted of six offences including five counts of malicious and falsifying information and one conviction of harassment.
Some of the hoax calls had been deemed to be so serious that they had resulted in a response from multiple emergency services.
Hazmat teams were also deployed in response to some of the false reports.
In a Facebook post on the GMP Rochdale page, a police spokesperson said: “Several of these calls prompted a multi-agency response including the deployment of a hazmat team.
“Had these vital services been needed elsewhere the calls would have cause a potentially life threatening delay to those in genuine need.”
The man is believed to have been arrested earlier this year and has since served three months’ imprisonment on remand and has been given a community order.
He has also been given a restraining order preventing him from contacting any emergency services unless in the case of a genuine emergency.
“Inappropriate calls slow down emergency services response to genuine emergencies,” the GMP Rochdale spokesperson said.
“This stops genuine callers getting help and places the lives of others at risk.
“I hope this shows how seriously the police treat those who misuse the emergency services and that they will be brought to account.”
