A teenager who telephoned a stranger and pretended that the man’s mother was dying in hospital following a serious road accident “for a laugh” had his sentence deferred at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
Archibald MacDonald, of Heatherywood, Thornton, admitted carrying out the offence on the morning of February 28, from his home address.
The court heard MacDonald (17) dialled a phone number at random shortly after 1am and when a man answered he pretended to be a police officer called Alistair Stewart, stating, “Your mum has been involved in an accident and is now in the royal infirmary.
“I’ve got terrible news for you she’s not going to make it through the night.”
The man immediately phoned his father who assured him his mother was in good health at which point British Telecom and the police were informed.
When traced, MacDonald admitted the offence, stating he had done it “for a laugh.”
MacDonald’s solicitor said that afterwards her client felt bad and wanted to phone back to say it had been a joke but didn’t out of embarrassment.
The solicitor described him as “a young man who behaved very immaturely and stupidly” and said it was a one-off incident.
Sheriff McCulloch said, “I hope you can imagine what a fright that person got when you made up that convoluted story that his mother was at death’s door- what a dreadful message to get at that time of the morning a wicked thing to do.”
Sentence was deferred until December 2 for MacDonald to be on good behaviour and for him to work on a letter of apology to the victim of his cruel prank.