A man who bombarded 999 operators with hundreds of drunken and abusive phone calls has been jailed, and slapped with an ASBO.

Shane Gaudoine, 51, of Hawthorn Road, Dartford, jammed control room switchboards, preventing operators from dealing with real emergencies, usually when drunk.

But he had already been given six convictions and three penalty notices over the last five years, relating to his abuse of the telephone system.

Now Dartford magistrates have jailed him for 150 days for the ‘persistent abuse of the public electronic communications network for the purposes of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another’.

The ASBO, which applies across Kent, is suspended until his release from custody and will run indefinitely.

It prevents him from making unmerited telephone calls to the emergency services and harassing others in phone calls.

Det Chief Insp Martyn Cochrane, said: “The actions of Shane Gaudoine could have diverted police resources from those who most needed them.

“Hopefully this will send out a strong message to those who choose to divert our resources away from real emergencies.

“We are extremely pleased with the sentence passed in the court and with the ASBO in place on his release from custody.”