AN ABERGAVENNY man has been sent to prison after he made repeated phone calls to the police to find out where his girlfriend was.

Colin Morgan, 37, of Underhill Crescent, called officers three times on July 17 regarding his partner’s whereabouts, and was abusive to the operator.

He pleaded guilty at Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court. He also pleaded guilty to burglary and possession of a cannabis plant.

The court heard how a day before he made the repeated calls to the police, Morgan had stolen more than £3,000 worth of tools from a puppet workshop on Park Street, Abergavenny.

Prosecuting, Chris Rose said Morgan took the tools from the community hall after he gained access to the workshop by using an axe, and hid the items, including a number of drill sets, after he was seen at the premises.

“The tools were valued at £3,205 and after Mr Morgan had left the community hall, he hid the items in a bush,” Mr Rose said. Since March this year, Morgan had made 11 phone calls to the police, often when drunk, prompting district judge David Parsons to call him ‘a nuisance’.

Defending, Isobelle Lewis said her client often made the calls under the influence of alcohol, but wants to turn his life around. “He drank four litres of Stella that day [July 17] before he made the phone calls,” she said. Alcohol problems had affected Morgan for a long time.

Summarising, the judge said he was alarmed at the number of previous convictions on the defendant’s record. Morgan would be going to prison after breaching a suspended sentence for burglary. “You have 37 courts appearances for 112 convictions including 47 of these due to dishonesty,” he said.

“Your calls to the police take away a vital resource from the Abergavenny community.”

He sentenced Morgan to 46 weeks in prison for the three offences.

Morgan will also be subject to a criminal behaviour order for three years. “The first condition is that you are not to contact the emergency services unless you have a reasonable cause to do so,” said the judge. “The second is that you must not be abusive in any way to members of the emergency services.” Should Morgan break the order, he could get five years in jail. Morgan was fined £115.