Chaos descended on a secluded Angus estate when an online gamer posed as a local teenager in an “elaborate hoax” on police and residents.
A full emergency response was scrambled to Monifieth when teenage video gamer Robert Barr told police his father was coming up the stairs to get him with a knife.
But police swooped on £400,000 Taymouth House in Ashludie Steadings to find the occupants in bed – and the hoax caller 100 miles away.
Within minutes of sparking the emergency response, the perpetrator went online with messages including “SWAT coming” and “I wanted the cops to kill his rabbit”.
Barr appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court and admitted posing as Jamie Sales to police call handlers and telling them his father had assaulted his mother, and that she had stopped breathing.
The 19-year-old, who was living in Johnstone and is now of Kilbirnie, had formed an online friendship with Mr Sales and the pair had made “prank calls” to various businesses and takeaways.
But the game became reality when the first offender “swatted” his erstwhile friend, and then took to social media within minutes to say “I’m going to prison”.
Fiscal depute Kirsten Thomson said: “The complainer in the charge, Mr Jamie Sales, had been a friend of the accused and they had met through online gaming, and spoke through Skype and on the Xbox.
“They were making prank calls to businesses and fast food outlets and were listening in to each other.”
Things changed on July 27 2014 when Barr called police control in Glasgow.
“At 2.30am police call handler was working in Glasgow and received a call from the withheld number,” Ms Thomson added.
“On answering, the operator obtained initial details… at the time the accused identified himself as Mr Jamie Sales, of Taymouth House, Monifieth.”
Barr said he was Mr Sales and his father had knocked his mother unconscious, she was not breathing, and he was coming up the stairs with a knife.
“Call handler quickly transferred the call to divisional headquarters in Dundee,” Ms Thomson added.
“He then terminated the call and the call handler had formed the impression that the father was approaching the property with a knife, and that the caller then terminated the call.
“Due to the severity of the incident, an immediate police and ambulance response was requested, and police attended immediately.”
Mr Sales’ mother Michelle was “quite startled” to hear from police when they rang her phone and raced to the quiet cul de sac.
They woke her son up and he denied making any calls to the police.
“Given the previous instances, Mr Sales formed the impression that it was the accused,” Ms Thomson added.
“He went on to Twitter and observed the accused had made various comments: ‘SWAT coming’, ‘I wanted the cops to kill his rabbit’, ‘The cops are at Jamie’s, I’m going to prison’, and ‘He is a snitch’.”
Barr appeared on petition and was released on bail with the special condition that he did not access the internet.
But he broke the order last year when it emerged he had formed an online friendship with an American woman, and had asked her to come to the UK.
“On July 1 at Glasgow airport, a female from the United States of America came through border control … they asked her to identify who her sponsor was,” Ms Thomson added.
“She stated to border patrol she’d met the person on Twitter 18 months before.
“Police officers were in the airport and Barr was sitting waiting in international arrivals.”
Solicitor Tony Callaghan said his client had “matured significantly” since the offence.
“He perceived this as a prank and he no longer does,” he added.
Describing the “very serious” incident as an “elaborate hoax”, Sheriff Pino di Emidio imposed a community payback order for 120 hours of unpaid work, and a year’s supervision, including the theme of “consequential thinking”.
Swatting
The term “swatting” was coined by the FBI in America to describe hoax calls which trigger a high-level turnout of SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) personnel with powerful weapons and door-breaching equipment.
Generally associated with online harassment, swatting has led to episodes ranging from relatively minor pizza-bombing – where a large carry out order is sent to an address which did not place the order – to the deployment of bomb squads and armed specialist units and the evacuation of schools and businesses.
It is linked to the act of doxxing – obtaining the address and details of an individual – and has been described as terrorism due to its potential to cause havoc, waste the time of emergency services and cause potential injury and psychological harm to the target.
Transoceanic problem
It was reported last year that cross-channel investigators investigated potential links between several of Barr’s online identities and a string of hoaxes in the USA.
Matthew Tollis, a 23-year-old from Connecticut, pled guilty in court to his part in a series of “swatting” incidents.
Tollis stated he was a member of a group of Microsoft XBox Live gamers, called Team Crucifix or Die, which was behind several swatting incidents in 2014.
Investigators believed one of Barr’s handles, Verified, and his Twitter profile “inb4mad” were associated with the group, however it is understood no charges were brought and the handles were deleted.
Barr did not comment at Forfar Sheriff Court.
