Rescuers welcome jail for hoax-call journalist

Mark Branagan

MOUNTAIN rescue workers yesterday welcomed the jailing of a journalist who tried to lead rescue teams on a wild goose chase by making hoax calls claiming a walker was injured on fells during last year’s devastating floods in Cumbria.

Journalist Sarah Louise Crickmer, formerly of South Shields but now of West Square, Scarborough, was sentenced to 105 days for after being found guilty of two breaches of the Communications Act.

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After the hearing, Andy Simpson of Mountain Rescue England & Wales, said: “At the time of the call, we were gearing up to bring teams in from outside Cumbria to relieve the pressure faced by the local teams already dealing with the floods in Cockermouth.

“There was never any question that we couldn’t have coped with additional incidents had we been required to, and the local team initially dealt with the hoax incident as though it was a real callout. As an organisation staffed entirely by volunteers, this kind of thing is extremely unhelpful.”

Rescue team leader Mark Hodgson said: “Our staff are hugely dedicated and put in a huge amount of time and effort into making sure we help others.

“We wasted a lot of time on the night the defendant decided to call us out. We had 30 men and women willing to look for someone that wasn’t there.”

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Crickmer had denied the offences but was convicted after a trial. The court heard she had called members of Wasdale mountain rescue team when the Cumbrian flooding was at its worst in November last year.

The floods caused widespread chaos and tragedy. Pc Bill Barker was swept to his death when a bridge in Workington crumbled into a swollen river.

Crickmer, 27, made the calls when mountain rescue volunteers were helping 999 workers deal with the devastation.

More than 30 volunteers had been preparing to set out on a search in the dangerous conditions in response, but rescue team deputy leader Julian Carradice became suspicious when Crickmer became vague about the location where she claimed an injured walker needed help.

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Police traced the call and a found her asleep in the hotel lounge. She smelled of alcohol and when woken by officers admitted what she had done.

District judge Gerald Chalk was told Crickmer had not attended the trial as she suffered drinking problems and had undergone a relapse.

A warrant was issued for her arrest so she could be sentenced. Judge Chalk said: “It is hard to imagine a more inappropriate time to make such malicious phone calls than around the time of the appalling floods.”

It had been alleged that Crickmer had made the calls as part of an article she was planning, aimed at testing how resources were coping with the crisis.

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She appeared pale and stunned as she was led away in handcuffs following the sentencing at West Allerdale and Keswick Magistrates' Court in Workington.

Her solicitor Tim Frost told the court her career in journalism was “finished” and that her marriage had also broken up, and she had long-standing alcohol problem for which she had previous convictions.

“It has been a very long and difficult journey for her. She is very embarrassed at what has been levelled against her which has been a source of extreme pain for her,” he said.

Crickmer was a star graduate of the private noSweat Journalism college in London.