A TEENAGER who made 800 malicious calls to police over four days in December has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Kerry Moate pleaded guilty to two counts of persistently making use of public communication networks to cause annoyance/inconvenience or anxiety, at a previous hearing.

She appeared before Huntingdon Law Court today where she was given a four-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Moate, 18, of Samuel Jones Crescent, Little Paxton, made 756 hoax 999 calls between Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and 44 hoax 999 calls between December 11 and December 13.

Officers arrested her during the early hours of Tuesday, December 27.

Det Supt Paul Fullwood said: “The sheer volume of malicious calls was extremely disruptive to the force at a time of year that is always busy for police.

“Today’s sentence sends out a clear message about the severity of this offence.

“The emergency number is in place to protect people from harm and to deal with serious offences, and can be called if a suspect is at a scene, if there is a likelihood of violence or damage to a person’s property and when there is a serious road traffic collision.

“Every time someone misuses 999 they are potentially putting others’ lives at risk. This is especially true when we receive a large number of nuisance calls as it impacts on how quickly other emergency calls are answered.

“This behaviour is completely unacceptable and we will continue to pursue those who make malicious calls.”