Electric shocks fail to stop hoax 999 addict

A woman who has made hoax 999 calls for 24 years escaped another jail term because shock treatment to break the addiction failed and she reoffended.

Thelma Dennis, 50, from Mountain Ash, Cynon Valley, has been prosecuted 60 times, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

She agreed to electrode therapy which left her screaming in pain every time she dialled the third "9" of 999.



But the shock treatment failed to cure her addiction, and she appeared back in court after making another hoax call. The court heard that she rang police claiming a bomb had been planted in her local supermarket.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Dennis has already been to jail twice for making the false calls. She was given a 12-month supervision order after admitting communicating false information about a bomb threat.

The judge told Dennis he was not sending her to prison again because she had gone four years without reoffending. But he warned her that if she returned to court again, there would be no choice but to jail her.