A BLIND woman who made more than 200 hoax 999 calls has been given a community sentence.
Jacqueline Hustler, who is also partially deaf, made the calls because she was lonely and wanted to hear a friendly voice.
She told police that she had left a bomb at the Batley Enterprise Centre and that a baby had been abandoned outside Dewsbury District Hospital.
The court was told that the Bradford woman caused mayhem for the emergency services with a series of calls over a 12-month period.
In other calls to the enterprise centre, 43-year-old Hustler issued warnings that she was going to stab everyone and told people to watch their backs.
During the call relating to the baby, Hustler claimed to have left the infant in a box with a cover over it, but she said she didn’t know if the child was alive or not.
She also claimed to have been raped.
When police officers traced Hustler they found a number of phone SIM cards at her home but she initially denied making the calls.
Prosecutor Abigail Langford said Hustler eventually admitted her involvement saying: “I feel so lonely that’s why I do it. I didn’t mean to do it. I just wanted to hear a friendly voice ... I feel like I am dead most of the time.”
Hustler had made the nuisance calls between July, 2009, and July last year, but Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that she was interviewed in December, 2009, but no action was taken because of mental health issues.
Hustler pleaded guilty earlier this year to three offences of causing a nuisance by making hoax telephone calls, but her case was adjourned for a psychiatrist’s report.
Hustler, who walks with a stick, was assisted into the dock by a support worker and her barrister Charlotte Worsley explained that her client’s fear of going to prison had a huge impact on her.
She said Hustler had not committed any further offences and was now more positive about her future, adding: “It is clear that this is a lady who has had a very difficult life,” submitted Miss Worsley.
“She is very apologetic for the offending behaviour that she committed. She asks me to say to you that she is very sorry for what she’s done.”
Recorder Henry Prosser told Hustler that the offences were very serious indeed and if it wasn’t for her personal problems he would be thinking about a prison sentence of three years.
