Suspended sentence for Eglinton farmer who made 1,200 calls to police

A man has been given a suspended sentence at Derry Magistrate's Court today charged with persistently contacting police over a period of years.

Ronald Patton (46) of Ballygudden Road in Eglinton outside Derry admitted two charges of harassment and two counts of persistent abuse of the telecommunications network on various dates in 2023.

The court heard that over a period of time the defendant had made 1,200 calls to the 101 police number. 

He also contacted two officers in particular and over a period from October 1, 2020 until October 1, 2023 made a total of 142 calls to them a lot of them being abusive. 

The court heard that Patton believed police had not fully investigated the theft of cattle from his farm some years before. 

When interviewed Patton made full admissions and accepted he should not have been contacting police. 

Defence counsel Stephen Chapman said that his client knew that he had 'gone over the top' in his efforts to contact police.

He said Patton believed that the best way to get something done was to contact the same officers and it had become 'chronic'.

Deputy District Judge John Rea said that the defendant had engaged in conduct that would have interfered with the workings of a public service. 

He said Patton needed to understand the 'consequences of his actions' and added that the custody threshold had been passed due to the frequency of the offences. 

Patton was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years and ordered to pay two police officers £500 each in compensation. 

A restraining order and an anti-social behaviour order were also imposed for a period of two years.