A CARDENDEN man has appeared in Court for wasting emergency services time on numerous occasions.

Stephen Paterson, 39, of Kirkburn Drive, stood in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing on Wednesday.

On numerous occasions in the past several years Paterson has contacted the emergency services to say that he was suicidal or had taken drugs, all because he needed someone to talk to.

Police and the ambulance service responded to the calls only to find that he hadn't taken an overdose and left only to be contacted by Paterson again.

On one occasion at midnight on New Year’s Eve, 2015, Paterson contacted the police to say he was considering suicide and had mental health issues.

He was taken by paramedics to hospital but became violent, shouting and swearing at staff.

Paterson rang the police while he was with paramedics but they could see that he was clearly drunk.

Paterson, previously admitted that on August 27, 2015, at his home address, did for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to Scottish Ambulance Service, persistently make use of a public electronics communications network in that he repeatedly telephoned the Ambulance Service using the 999-emergency call system requesting their attendance at his home when there was no emergency and no need for ambulance personal to attend.

Also on December 31, 2015, at a point during a journey from his home to Victoria Hospital and also at the hospital, he did behave in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear and alarm in that he did repeatedly shout, swear and utter threats of violence.

On September 25, 2016, at Navitie Park, Ballingry, did for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to a call handler, send by means of a public electronic communications network, a message he knew to be false in that he did contact NHS 24 and state he had taken an overdose.

On March 24, 2017, at his address he did for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to an emergency call taker, repeatedly contact the emergency services and claim he was suicidal and claim he had taken a quantity of drugs, claims which he knew to be false.

On March 25, 2017, he did at his home address and at Kirkcaldy Police Station, he did have in his possession a controlled drug, namely cannabis.

Defence solicitor, Gwen Haggerty, said her client’s problems were because of a "sense of social isolation", turning to drink and then committing offences.

"He has completed a community payback order and enjoys doing unpaid work because it fills his time, " she said.

Sheriff Alison McKay told Paterson: "The patience of the Court wears thin when you do not comply with orders and you keep committing the same offences.

"To bring these matters to an end I will order 200 hours of unpaid work to be performed in relation to the earliest matter in 2015, but if this comes back to me again then I will have no alternative but to give you a custodial sentence.

"I will fine you £600 for treating badly the paramedics that were trying to help you and I will defer the other two matters for eight months’ time.

"If you are not going to behave during these eight months, giving all the help that the Court has offered, then there will only be one option."