A FERMANAGH man who repeatedly contacted police for frivolous reasons including wanting action taken following an “assault” by three geese and a duck has narrowly avoided prison.
David William Kerr (43) from Grogey Road, Brookeborough, persistently misused a communications network on numerous occasions over an almost two year period from August 2023 to May 2025.
During this time he was issued with a Cease-and-Desist Warning, emphasising how he was to stop making 999 calls as they were consistently found to be unwarranted.
Despite this he continued the calls in an “abusive and condescending manner” often leaving call handlers in tears due to anxiety and distress.
Female officers in particular described him as “derogatory, intimidating, inappropriate and using misogynistic language.”
Matters came to a head on 29 May 2025 when Kerr phoned the investigating officer in his ongoing case and claimed to have been assaulted by livestock.
It transpired he wanted police to deal with this but was advised there was no crime and police were not best placed to deal with it as “animals can’t assault anyone.”
He persisted and was told police “cannot arrest a sheep or a cow”.
At this Kerr became irate, refusing to say where this had happened or what type of animal was involved.
The officer advised he would record a concern for the welfare of animals which it appeared were lose on a road.
Minutes later Kerr again rang 999 claiming to have been attacked by three geese and a duck.
By this point police formed the view he had no intention of stopping this conduct and was arrested.
During interview Kerr denied causing anxiety or stress to anyone but added, “If they work for the police they should understand they have to deal with stress as part of the job.”
He was convicted after a contested hearing at Enniskillen Magistrates Court last month which was initially expected to last the best part of a day as 20 police witnesses were involved, but this was later greatly reduced when the defence managed to narrow the number to six.
Following conviction District Judge Alana McSorley ordered pre-sentence reports and on return before the most recent sitting she noted Kerr continues to deny his guilt.
A defence barrister said the birds were “blocking the road” in an effort to remove them. Kerr exited his vehicle and tried to usher them away.”
However one of the offending geese nipped him below the knee, giving rise to the call to police.
“He did not set out to cause any upset but accepts the court has found him guilty,” said the defence
It was conceded the pre-sentence report had, “A negative slant, which is consistent with a man who struggles with social norms, interactions and communications.”
The defence referred to a psychological report which found Kerr, “Talks in a manner which is not mindful of the listener. He has a tendency to unintentionally raise his voice and present as argumentative. Also, he can come across as aggressive without knowing or understanding he is doing so. He could have dealt with this much better and he knows that.”
Addressing Kerr directly Judge McSorley said, “You continue to deny the offences and have no self-reflection. Your victim-blaming is a major concern. You are assessed as a high likelihood of reoffending and there are relevant previous convictions. Clearly you aren’t getting the message. The calls you made were frivolous and ridiculous. They were abusive and misogynistic in nature. You comment that people are getting paid to do their job, but those jobs do not include abuse.”
She imposed a sentence of five months imprisonment but after consideration agreed to suspend this for two years.
