A man who pestered emergency services with more than 7,000 nuisance calls has been jailed.

Roger Jackson, 77, made the abusive calls to Sussex Police and the South East Coast Ambulance Service from September 2020.

He has been sentenced to 39 months in prison after pleading guilty at a hearing at Lewes Crown Court on 27 January.

He is estimated to have wasted more than 400 hours of emergency service time while speaking to contact officers.

Jackson, from Horsham, West Sussex, will also receive a criminal behaviour order for 10 years.

Force persistent caller lead for Sussex Police, Sarah-Louise Gliddon, said: “For every genuine caller waiting to speak to us, there may be one of these callers in front of them such as Roger Jackson.

“Jackson has been a persistent caller for a number of years and as such has been given multiple warnings up to his arrest last year owing to the volume of calls he was making to both police and ambulance.”

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“The volume and the frequency of Jackson’s calls impacted the contact centre’s ability to provide a service to the public, who genuinely needed police assistance or attendance while he was blocking the line.”

The force has dealt with more than 700 individuals making nuisance calls since its work started in 2014.

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‘Vile verbal abuse’

South East Coast Ambulance Service frequent caller lead and paramedic, Nathan Daxner, said: “Jackson subjected our call centre staff to repeated vile verbal abuse on a daily basis, and the impact his actions should not be underestimated.

“Just one malicious and false call puts lives at risk by diverting our attention and resources away from people in our communities who genuinely need our help.”

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