Rhys Pilott, 28, was told how he prevented handlers from taking genuine calls (Picture: Getty Images)

A man who repeatedly called the police and belched down the phone line has been jailed for 24 weeks.

Rhys Pilott, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, continued to burp when he was arrested and told officers ‘if you’re bored, prank call the police. It’s fun’.

But he was told ‘other genuine calls can’t be taken’ while people waste call handlers’ time as he was sentenced today.

At an earlier hearing he had admitted to causing public nuisance on September 25.


He also confessed to persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety on September 27.

Speaking at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court, Anthea Harris, prosecuting, said Pilott made 13 nuisance calls on the first occasion and 19 on the second.



She said the calls were ‘easily distinguished’ as being made by the defendant as he was ‘audibly belching down the phone line’.

Ms Harris added: ‘When he was arrested, he continued to belch. He said to police “if you’re bored, prank call the police. It’s fun”.

‘While he’s on the phone, other genuine calls can’t be taken.’

Michelle Canagasuriam, defending, said her client’s offending was not ‘malicious or callous’ and pointed out that he has learning difficulties.

She added: ‘He does this partly due to boredom. The psychologist is of the view this is about empowerment and importance.

He burped at police and told them the prank calls were ‘fun’ (Picture: Getty Images/Dean Pictures)

‘It was a need to be a someone who could make things happen, when all of his life history suggests he couldn’t achieve this.’

The court heard how the defendant had 12 previous convictions for ‘similar type offending’, including three bomb hoaxes.

He admitted to two further offences at today’s hearing, both relating to an incident on September 10 where he stripped naked in public in the middle of the day and swore at police.

He pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and to using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The court heard he was on a suspended sentence order when he committed the offences.

Pilott, 28, sat with his arms folded as he appeared by video-link as he was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison for all of the offences.

Speaking to the defendant, District Judge Ken Sheraton said Pilott: ‘Whatever the reason for this persistent ringing of the emergency services you’ve got to realise that you’re creating all sorts of difficulties for the emergency services and inevitably for yourself because you end up going to prison.

‘I understand fully that you’ve got some problems but it’s also clear that you know what you’re doing and you’re doing this out of boredom.

‘You’ve got to find some other way of managing your time or prison sentences will get longer and longer.’

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.