Mayo man charged after 24 emergency personnel responded to hoax call
The defendant pleaded guilty at Ballina District Court.
More than 20 members of the emergency services attended the scene of a falsely reported house fire in Foxford, a district court has heard.
Michael McDonagh, aged 45, of 16 Woodlands, Balla pleaded guilty at Ballina District Court last Friday to making a hoax call to the emergency services in 2024.
Judge Sandra Murphy was told that the incident began at 9.10pm on August 12, 2024 when McDonagh made a call to the emergency services reporting a house fire at a premises on the Castlebar Road, Foxford. He said there was a red van parked outside the house and an elderly lady was standing next to the van.
The defendant gave his name as ‘Peter Mullin’ to the person answering the call who immediately alerted the fire service, ambulance service and An Garda Síochána.
The court heard that some 18 firefighters, four paramedics and two Gardaí responded to the call and rushed to Foxford. When the Gardaí arrived at the scene, they spoke to a fire officer who confirmed that no fire was taking place. An elderly lady was observed inside the house, asleep in bed.
Using the emergency services phone records, Gardaí were able to identify that McDonagh was the person who had made the hoax call, and their suspicions were confirmed when the defendant's phone was forensically examined.
The court was told that the defendant has 32 previous convictions. Solicitor Peter Loftus asked Judge Murphy to order a probation report to assist with the sentencing of his client.
Agreeing to the request from the defending solicitor, Judge Murphy described the offence as "serious", noting that the hoax call had the potential to divert emergency services away from a genuine emergency.
“These services could have been needed in a genuine case,” she said.
Judge Murphy ordered a probation report and asked the Gardaí to give an estimate of the cost of the emergency services call-out that arose from the hoax call. The matter was adjourned until March 10 next.
- Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.
