A MAN who bombarded the emergency services with calls threatening to kill himself had become “an absolute nuisance”, a judge said

Former driver Peter Upton was said to have a huge void in his life after he found himself jobless because of a drink-driving conviction.

Upton, 50, of Market Street in Rhos, called the police, the ambulance service and others threatening to take his own life.

There were so many calls that he was prosecuted.

Arrested and interviewed, he said he accepted that often when he rang the police it was not a police matter and that no immediate response was required.

District judge Roger Lowe said for a five or six day period at the start of May he became “an absolute nuisance” to the emergency services.

He had been alcohol dependent for 20 years but it was no excuse to say he was drunk, the judge explained.

It did not give him the right to bombard the emergency services with cries for help.

The judge told him: “It may be that you were attention seeking and no more than that.”

Upton admitted making calls to cause annoyance and needless anxiety and was placed on a 12 month community order.

He must undertake 25 days rehabilitation and a 20 week curfew was imposed under which he must remain indoors between 10pm until 7am.

The judge agreed to start the curfew later than he intended so Upton could attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.

After his sentence Upton told the judge, sitting at Flintshire Magistrates Court at Mold: “I do apologise.”

Solicitor Andy Holliday, defending, said his client had been in a difficult place and his drinking got progressively worse.

He lost his employment due to his drinking and drank more because of the huge vacuum in his life.

“He is struggling to deal with what to do with the huge amount of time he has, other than to drink.

“That is why he made the calls. He did not know what to do with himself.

"He was taking about self-harm and killing himself. He just does not know what to do with himself,” Mr Holliday said.

“He allowed drink to get the better of him. He found himself with a huge void and he was not able to emotionally fill that.”

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson said police and the ambulance service would receive calls from Upton.

They also received calls from other agencies and on one occasion it was from Tesco staff who were concerned that Upton had said he was going to kill himself.

Officers had visited him on a number of occasions and the mental health services had been contacted but he was regarded as a low risk of self-harm.

He would make calls and say “I need help” over and over again.

The prosecutor said he had been referred to various agencies, his GP and the mental health services and he was subject to a risk management plan by the neighbourhood policing team.

Interviewed, he said he had depended on alcohol for 20 years since his mother died.

He told how he believed he was ill, drank vodka daily and had lost his job as a driver because of an excess alcohol charge.

Upton said he recalled making the calls.

Probation officer Tracey Flavell said many of the calls were cries for help.

He seemed somewhat isolated and things appeared to have deteriorated after he lost his employment.

Upton did appear to be of low mood and had been emotional in interview, she said.