A woman who made over 2,000 calls to 999 over the last three years has been jailed.
Sonia Nixon called the emergency line 1,194 times last year alone, putting her within the top three repeat callers across the Met Police in 2023.
The 56-year-old of Lyon Road, Harrow, used 17 different mobile numbers to dial the call centre between 2021 and 2023, making her the fifth worst caller in that time.
After being arrested, Nixon racially abused an officer and was further arrested for racially aggravated public order before urinating in the caged van and being arrested for criminal damage.
Nixon made thousands of calls to 999 over three years
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Nixon was convicted and sentenced at Willesden Magistrates Court on March 18 to 22 weeks in prison for the 696 calls made to 999, plus four racially aggravated public order offences against emergency workers.
She was also granted a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order, including conditions of contacting 999 only in an emergency, as well as alerting workers to any new calls from Nixon.
It is estimated the persistent offender cost the Metropolitan Police Service approximately £4,500 within a five-month window.
The cost was due to her abuse of the 999 system, which had a significant impact on how quickly operators could respond to genuine emergencies.
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Nixon was sentenced at Willesden Magistrates Court
PA
Superintendent Matt Cray said: “This was a superb result and testament to the hard work and dedication of the community policing team to bring Sonia Nixon to justice.
"She has been a massive drain on local and wider Met resources, consistently abusing our emergency workers with vile and racist behaviour, as well as causing a menace on the streets.
"The excellent work by officers in convicting Ms Nixon means we will be able to prevent further instances of her high volume calling and impact to the 999 service level, ensuring we can prioritise resources where they are really needed, and help restore trust and confidence in our local communities."
New figures from the Met show 25 per cent of calls made to emergency services do not have a policing purpose, with abusive callers costing the force over £2million, as well as preventing genuine emergencies from being answered.
Last year, Stephen Cheshire of Kingswood Road, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, made more than 30 999 calls to police and ambulance to get a 'lift home' in some of which he pretended he was in an medical emergency.
Warwickshire Police said that when officers have attended the 62-year-old's callouts, they have discovered him to be intoxicated but not in need of help
At Leamington Magistrates Court on Friday, March 15, Cheshire was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for 12 months, as well as a surcharge of £154 and a requirement to attend 15 days of rehabilitation activities, reports CoventryLive.