A man who made more than 30 bogus 999 calls over the course of two years has been given a 3½-year suspended sentence.
James Kelly (32), of Rochford Green, Blackrock, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to six sample charges of knowingly making a false report on dates between February 2021 and March 2023.
The court heard gardaí responded to each false report, including making house-to-house inquiries and trawling through hours of CCTV footage.
In one incident Kelly claimed he had been the victim of an attempted armed robbery. Gardaí responded to his 999 call, and after meeting him followed up by canvasing the local area for CCTV footage.
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Kelly was seen on the footage but there was no suspect robber. One officer spent 30 days canvasing footage and four months following up on the case before it was concluded there had been no crime.
At a previous sentence hearing last June Judge Pauline Codd said Kelly’s behaviour was a complete waste of Garda time and resources.
Sentencing Kelly on Monday, she said he had caused a great nuisance to people who have enough to be doing coping with their own workload. Judge Codd said the frequencies with which the calls were made warranted a headline sentence of five years. She took into account that urine analysis showed Kelly has tested negative for various illicit drugs and previously struggled with addiction.
She noted from various testimonials that Kelly works in a voluntary capacity at a local football club and has shown he is capable of living in a pro-social manner.
She imposed a sentence of 3½ years, which she suspended in full on strict conditions, including that he engage with the Probation Service for one year and with various addiction support services as directed by the Probation Service.
Det Garda Gary Burns told barrister John Moher, prosecuting, at an earlier sentence hearing that a call received on January 13th, 2022, prompted the investigation into the case.
The 999 call received that day reported that a fight had broken out in a particular pub and males were throwing bottles at each other. Gardaí immediately responded but when they arrived a minute later there were three people in the bar and it was very quickly established there had been no such disturbance.
The 999 caller had identified himself as James. Further investigation led to the nomination of Kelly as a suspect.
Kelly gave a voluntarily statement to gardaí in March 2023 having previously been arrested, detained and interviewed. He made no admissions during the initial questioning but took responsibility in his voluntary statement.
He said he wanted to apologise for wasting people’s time but said he could not say why he made the calls. “I don’t know really. I think I need to see someone professionally,” he said.
Kelly has two previous convictions for possession of articles and one for a public order offence.
Det Gda Burns agreed with barrister Pieter Le Vert, defending, that Kelly has ongoing issues with drugs. Counsel said Kelly is a self-confessed compulsive liar.
Mr Le Vert said Kelly was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. He has been trying to get into drug rehabilitation but so far has not secured a place.
Mr Le Vert said on Monday that his client is now drug-free and has applied for work but has not secured a job. He is due to become a father later this year.
