Man who rang for an ambulance 344 times ordered to pay compensation

A caller who rang for an ambulance 344 times in six months has been ordered to pay compensation to East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Thomas Exhall, 71, of Priory Road, Mansfield Woodhouse, made 999 calls and calls to the 111 NHS line between December 1, 2017 and April 29, 2018, costing the NHS a total of £24,883.

East Midlands Ambulance Service has said Exhall verbally abused 999 call handlers and ambulance crews who attended him.

A spokesman said if he was taken to hospital he would often discharge himself before being seen, and then he would go home, and call 999 or 111 again.

Exhall appeared at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Monday, January 14 where he denied both making the calls and his abusive behaviour.

Magistrates found Exhall guilty and he was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £400 in compensation to EMAS.

It comes after another frequent caller, Victoria Cross, was prosecuted last week for making more than 200 fake calls in just over two weeks.

Cross, from Moira, near Swadlincote, made the calls between between December 27 and January 13.

She admitted in calls that she was ringing because she was “bored and didn’t care about anyone else”.

When she realised her number had been blocked by the emergency services, she bought different sim cards for her mobile phone so that she could continue to make 999 calls.

One of Cross’s false calls led to a one minute eight second delay for a child in cardiac arrest.

Cross was ordered to pay £165 in fines and she was given a conditional discharge for 18 months when appearing at Leicester Magistrates' Court on January 14.

EMAS said they had worked closely with police and other professionals in an attempt to support Cross and Exhall but had been left with no choice but to pursue prosecution.

Deborah Powell, Frequent Caller Lead for EMAS, said: