Community order for woman who continued making nuisance calls

Julie Chadwick, 38, was handed an Asbo in 2009 after making 200 bogus 999 phone calls – including claiming her boyfriend was “covered in blood” after she threw a blackcurrant drink over him and asking police to visit because her neighbour’s dog “looked at her funny”.

Chadwick, of Leeds, has been handed a community order after a judge was told she made 22 nuisance phone calls and verbally abused staff.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Chadwick suffered from a personality disorder which meant she was unable to control her temper.

On December 2 last year she rang 999, asking for help breaking into her former partner’s home, and claiming the council had told her the police would help.

When operators refused, she continued to ring over the next three days, being aggressive and abusive. She was arrested after officers were sent to her home on December 4.

Her barrister Mark Foley said: “She recognises the impact of her behaviour and that it is wrong. In times of emotional upset she doesn’t appreciate and understand what she is doing.”

Mr Foley urged Judge James Spencer not to impose a further ASBO as she had breached it five times since 2009. He said that Chadwick had complied well with supervision orders in the past.

He added: “In times of high emotional arousal and anger she is likely to act without thought of the consequences of her actions.”

Chadwick was handed a 12-month community order after pleading guilty to breaching the anti-social behaviour order.

It was handed out after she made over 200 calls to emergency services, estimated to have cost West Yorkshire Police £500,000.

She falsely claimed she had been beaten up and, when exasperated police officers were dispatched to visit her home to investigate, she was verbally abusive to them and unfortunate neighbours who were around at the time.

Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard at the time how Chadwick had also been given an earlier Asbo the year before, an order which she had largely ignored.