Journalist Sarah Louise Crickmer made hoax calls

Sep 3 2010 The Journal

A SHAMED journalist who made a series of hoax calls to emergency services in the midst of last year’s Cumbria floods could be facing prison.

Sarah Louise Crickmer, of Brass Thill Way, South Shields, was found guilty of two charges of sending false messages to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety at West Allerdale and Keswick Magistrates.

A warrant was issued for the 27-year-old’s arrest after the court heard “absolutely compelling” evidence that Crickmer had contacted Wasdale Mountain Rescue with a fabricated story of a walker being injured on Skiddaw, in Keswick, Cumbria.

Chairman of the bench John Abernethy said: “We are not ruling out any option and that includes custody.”

Magistrates heard how Crickmer, who has a history of alcohol problems, had been drinking at the Lyzzick Hall Hotel at Underskiddaw prior to making three calls to the mountain rescue and two calls to the police falsely claiming a man was stranded.

The calls prompted a 30-strong team of Keswick rescuers to spend nearly two hours preparing for the rescue, but mountain rescuers became suspicious and police officers went to the hotel to question Crickmer. She was found asleep in the lounge of the hotel and when officers attempted to rouse her she became confrontational and erratic in her behaviour.

PC Karen Clark said: “She laughed when I woke her up. She smelt of alcohol but she didn’t come across as being drunk.

“She had given garbled information and I wanted to clarify it.”