A lovestruck Kirriemuir man who sent firefighters on a hoax call to the house of the woman who spurned him has appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court.
Ultimately, Christopher Brown’s drunken lament to a taxi driver who also worked as a retained firefighter proved to be his undoing.
The court heard 27-year-old Brown, of Grampian Drive, had reacted badly after the subject of his affections had called the police to stop him contacting her.
Brown admitted making false calls to the fire service control room from two phoneboxes in Kirriemuir, claiming there was a fire at a house in the town on August 10 this year.
Procurator fiscal Jill Drummond said the accused had shared texts and Facebook messages with the woman and had even been out, among other friends, with her.
He was keen to move the relationship forward and increased the number of times he contacted her. But she was unhappy with the nature of the contact and asked the police to speak to the accused.
On the night in question, Brown had been drinking in Kirriemuir before hailing a taxi.
He told the taxi driver of the problems he had with the woman and how he felt it was unfair the police had become involved.
Later, the fire service received two calls from a man reporting a house fire in Kirrie.
A crew was despatched and among them was the taxi driver who was a retained firefighter. When it emerged the calls were false, and knowing the address concerned, he recalled his passenger from earlier and suspicions fell upon Brown.
The experience left the woman and her family shocked and upset and residents around them were also disturbed by the incident.
The cost of the call-out to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was £626.10.
When traced, the accused expressed immediate regret.
His agent, Keith Sym, said the fact the taxi driver was also a retained firefighter was an astonishing coincidence, but did not detract from an “irresponsible act of tit for tat”.
He said: “In the cold light of day he looks on this with extreme regret and wants to do whatever he can to make amends.
“He knows the position of this woman and he knows the loss of resources in sending a fire engine out on this malicious call. It is something that troubles him, that he was capable of such a thing.”
In deferring sentence on Brown until December 9 for background reports, Sheriff Murray acknowledged the accused realised just how foolish he had been, but the sheriff said he was concerned at the expense caused to the fire service and the unnecessary upset caused to the woman, her family and neighbours.