Falkirk 'sleepwalker' called police after giving himself a fright

James Short (63) was smelling strongly of alcohol when police attended at his address on a couple of occasions, following up on his phone calls.

It was claimed Short was so upset by the experience – being advised his situation “did not warrant a call to the emergency services” – that he failed to call 999 when he had a fall and ended up lying on the floor for a long period of time.

He appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday having admitted causing annoyance by repeatedly contacting the 999 emergency service for no reason at his Wallace Street, Falkirk home on September 9, 2020.

Amy Sneddon, procurator fiscal depute, said: “The police control room received a number of calls from the accused. At 12.30pm he called and repeatedly stated ‘what’ before telling the operator to ‘F’ off.

"At 12.55pm he called again, confirmed his name and address and sounded intoxicated. Police were unable to establish the reason for the call, but the accused did say he didn’t mean to call the number.

"Further calls were made, one of which stated the accused was lying on his chair. He said he lived alone and the doors and windows within his address were open and he couldn’t stand up due to a previous injury.

"At 3pm police attended at the accused’s home address. He was deemed to be safe and well, however, he was under the influence of alcohol and stated he did call police but didn’t know why.

"At 10.30pm the accused again made a 999 call and spoke to the operator before he cleared the line. Police officers again attended at the address. The accused told officers he had been sleepwalking and had given himself a fright.

"He was smelling strongly of alcohol. The accused was advised his situation did not warrant a call to the emergency services.”

Short, who has mobility issues and appeared with crutches in the dock, was actually late for his court date because it took him longer to get there than he thought. A warrant issued for his arrest was recalled by Sheriff Derek Livingston.

Defence solicitor Lynn Swan said: “He accepts he was heavily under the influence at the time and is very hazy about the phone calls which took place. These matters have given him a bit of a fright.

"He is now reluctant to make any calls to the police. He had a fall recently and didn’t make a call to the police, which he should have done. He ended up lying there for a long period of time.”

It was stated Short was still grief stricken over the death of his son some years ago and alcohol was his way of coping.

Sheriff Livingston placed Short on a restriction of liberty order, meaning he must stay in his home between 7pm and 7am for the next nine months.

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