Woman who called 999 more than 2,000 times in three years is jailed
A woman who called 999 more than 2,000 times in three years, and racially abused emergency workers, has been jailed.
Sonia Nixon, 56, from Harrow, called the emergency line 1,194 times last year alone, putting her within the top three repeat callers across the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 2023.
She used 17 different mobile numbers to dial the call centre between 2021 and 2023, making her the fifth worst caller in that time.
It is estimated the persistent offender cost the MPS approximately £4,500 within a five-month window, due to her abuse of the 999 system, which had a significant impact on how quickly operators could respond to genuine emergencies.
Nixon was arrested in January by Greenhill and Harrow on the Hill Safer Neighbourhood Teams for 668 breaches of the Communications Act 2003, and charged for 670 offences.
After being arrested, she racially abused an officer and was further arrested for racially aggravated public order before urinating in the MPS caged van and being arrested for criminal damage.
Nixon was convicted last month for the 696 calls made to 999, plus four racially aggravated public order offences against emergency workers.
She has now been sentenced to 22 weeks in prison.
Nixon was also given 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 her.
The MPS said more than 25 per cent of calls made to emergency services do not have a policing purpose, with abusive callers costing the force more than £2 million, as well as preventing genuine emergencies from being answered.
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 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.”