False calls woman told she faces jail for pestering police

A lonely Angus woman has been warned she faces prison after continually phoning police for company.

Glenda Craik’s recent attempts to gain attention included wrongly reporting a death over the Christmas period.

Craik, 44, of Seagate, Montrose appeared from custody at Forfar Sheriff Court where she admitted repeatedly phoning the police, including using the 999 emergency number.

Around 25 phone calls were made between October 14 last year and January 2.

The court heard the calls were made while Craik was subject to three bail orders, granted at Forfar on March 27, April 11 and October 9 last year.

A tearful Craik admitted the likelihood of her making the bogus calls got worse when she had been drinking alcohol.

Her solicitor said she regretted her actions.

The court was told she has had her mobile phone taken away from her and intends to terminate the contract in order to reduce the chances of her reoffending.

It also heard she was “genuinely scared” about the prospect of going to prison for the offences.

Craik has five children, but is only in contact with the eldest, who had provided her with alcohol over the Christmas period, leading to one of the offences.

Other cases against her have yet to be resolved, the court was told.

Sheriff Gregor Murray said it was “likely” that she would be given a custodial sentence if she offended again and failed to cooperate with social workers and police.

He told Craik: “You’re not out of the woods yet.

“I understand the loneliness and the drinking, but the number of cases outstanding means that while it is not inevitable that you are going to jail, it is likely that will happen.

“If you breach the bail conditions you will leave me with no alternative,” the sheriff added.

Sentence on Craik was deferred until January 24 and she was again released on bail.