A "persistently abusive" hoax caller who made nineteen 999 calls in under a month threatened to damage a police station, harm officers and made extreme allegations.

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Todd Germeney, formerly of Witchford, was handed a three-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) for calling the force’s emergency line 19 times between 30 January and 19 February last year.

The 36-year-old - who was also handed a criminal behaviour order in 2016 - was arrested the following month.

He was charged with threatening to damage property, persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance.

He was also charged with sending an offensive message by public communication network.

Germeney, of East Road, Cambridge, was found guilty of the offences at Cambridge Crown Court last month and sentenced at Huntingdon Crown Court on Friday March 12.

The CBO means Germeney must report any non-emergency by visiting a police station.

He also must not call or incite others to call 999 unless there is a genuine need for emergency services.

PC Matthew Lander said: “Germeney persistently phoned 999 to abuse and threaten our call handlers, who work tirelessly day-in-day-out to protect the public.

“The misuse of our 999 service will not be tolerated, nor will abusive behaviour towards our call handlers.”

Germeney was also given a two-year community order and must pay £200 in costs.

At the time of the 2016 case, the judge heard how the order was brought forward following work carried out by Cambridgeshire Constabulary and the East Cambs Safety Partnership.

Both groups had been working to “robustly tackle his consistent antis-social behaviour within Ely which was causing harassment, alarm or distress to members of the public” said Sergeant Ryan Carter.

“The CBO was issued as a result of Germeney’s continued criminal behaviour relating to anti-social behaviour and being a general nuisance to other members of the public.”

The Cambridgeshire Constabulary website states that "all calls to the emergency services are recorded and we can always trace the number.

"Even if the call is made from a withheld number or public phone box, if you are found to be making a hoax call you could be fined or even sent to prison.

"Misuse of 999 and hoax calls are a criminal offence. You could face a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison or a fine of £5,000."