Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Drug dealer wasted firefighters’ time by making false report of blaze in Elgin

Andrew Clark is pictured outside of Elgin Sheriff Court in Moray today.
Andrew Clark is pictured outside of Elgin Sheriff Court in Moray today.

A drug dealer who wasted firefighters’ time by making a fake 999 call has been ordered to undergo treatment for addiction.

Andrew Clark called the fire service on May 25 last year to report a fictitious incident on Morriston Road in Elgin.

When fire crews attended and could not see any trace of smoke, an investigation was promptly launched to find out who had made the “malicious” report.

The call was traced to Duncan Drive in Bishopmill, where Clark was residing at the time.

The 26-year-old, whose present address was given as Coulardhill in Lossiemouth, was found guilty of maliciously reporting a fire after a trial at Elgin Sheriff Court.

He was also convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class C drug diazepam between May 1 and June 14, and of assaulting his former partner by cutting off her hair between May 1 and May 25.

Defence solicitor, Stephen Carty, told the court that alcohol had played a role in the offences.

He said: “In the cold and sober light of day, my client realised the gravity of making such a call to the fire service.

“He realised he deprived those in need of the faculty and, while under the influence of alcohol, did not know the consequences.

“As for the supply of drugs, he knows the complainers well and they took drugs together.”

Sheriff Robert McDonald decided against sending Clark to prison but ordered him to address his problems.

He said: “You took the attention of the fire brigade away from real emergencies to somewhere else, and that is a serious offence.”

The accused will remain under supervision for 18 months, during which time he is to attend counselling for drug and alcohol problems.