Drunk threatened to kill officers at station

‘DESPERATE BID FOR ATTENTION’

A MAN who threatened to go to a police station to kill officers has been spared an immediate prison sentence and told to seek help for his mental health problems.

Surjit Singh made the threat in a phone call to Leicestershire Police earlier this month, telling a member of staff he would go to Keyham Lane station, in the Hamilton area of the city, and kill officers there.

The call-handler was sufficiently concerned the threat was credible and she sent officers to Singh’s home in Victoria Road East, in the Northfields area of the city.

The 56-year-old appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court to admit sending a threatening message. The court heard he served a prison sentence for a similar offence last summer and has a long criminal record of 38 convictions for 53 offences, including other malicious calls to the emergency services.

Prosecutor Kwok Wan told the court Singh called the force shortly after 5am on Sunday, January 3.

Mr Wan said: “The male on the line was using abusive language and threatened to go to Hamilton police station and kill officers.”

In a statement, the police callhandler who spoke to Singh, said: “His aggressive manner led me to believe he was capable of carrying out his threats.”

Officers traced Singh’s address from his mobile number and found him drunk and abusive.

However, he began to apologise for his actions and went on to tell the officers he had made the call as a cry for help.

His solicitor Sandeep Kaushal said plans to find suitable accommodation for him in a mental health unit after his release from prison last year had not come to fruition.

Mr Kaushal said: “In his desperate attempt to receive some attention he has called the police. He says he was in drink at the time.

“He now has his own property after years of homelessness and being abused, beaten and robbed on the streets.

“His mental health issues are being dealt with now.

“He is aged 56 and has a host of previous convictions. This is no more than a desperate man in a desperate circumstance.”

Singh was given a six-week prison sentence, which was suspended for a year.

Magistrate Mark Harvey told him: “This offence is made worse by the fact you have previous convictions for similar offences.

“Your personal mental health issues were clearly a trigger for this offence.

“We are all aware mental health services are not offering what they could or should because of this pandemic.

“We see your mental health issues are a massive mitigating issue, so we will suspend your prison sentence for 12 months.”

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £128.