Morton 'nuisance caller' avoids jail but gets 999 ban

A "nuisance caller" from Morton who made a 999 hoax bomb call has been banned from using the number unless it is a real emergency.

Steven Diver (55), of Rosehip Road, Morton, near Bourne, made the call a day after the Parsons Green underground attack in London last September, causing police to take seriously.

During a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court today, a judge was told that Diver had dialled the 101 non-emergency number and told the operator: "A bomb, a bomb, Camden Town."

Diver then added: "Alert, alert, alert, red, red, red," and ended the call by stating "It would be 12 o'clock or 9 o'clock."

Both Special Branch and the Metropolitan Police were informed about the call soon after the Parsons Green explosion on September 15, 2017, when the UK state of security had been upgraded to critical.

Police officers were sent to Diver's home where he was found to have been drinking whiskey.

It emerged in court that Diver had served a prison sentence in 2015 for making a similar hoax bomb communication, have previously contacted the police 22 times with calls of a "similar nature" before September's hoax.

The court heard that Lincolnshire Police regarded Diver as a "nuisance caller" when he was drunk, but they hoped he could be helped through an alcohol treatment order.

In mitigation, Diver was said to be working hard to keep off drink and was holding down a job as a truck driver.

After admitting a charge of making a false communication, Diver was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years, a 12-month alcohol treatment order and was order to complete 120 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Diver was also made the subject of a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order which bans him from ringing the police 101 number or making any 999 calls unless it is a genuine emergency.

Passing sentence, Judge John Pini QC told Diver he had wasted police time by making the hoax bomb call.

Judge Pini said: "It diverted their time and their efforts away from genuine emergencies, that is what is serious about this."

The judge also warned Diver that this was his "last chance" to avoid another jail sentence.