$10,000 fine for hoax call

A former St John Ambulance volunteer driver was fined $10,000 for making a hoax emergency call which claimed two people had been injured in a fictitious car rollover near a South West town.

Daniel Scott Lee Stewart, 40, will also have to pay $9815 to cover the cost of the emergency response to the fake crash, which included the use of the police air wing.

Stewart was found guilty at the end of a Bunbury District Court trial yesterday on one count of creating a false belief.

He phoned St John Ambulance on July 21 last year, claiming there had been a car crash about 3km from Collie and said someone was trapped in the car.

Stewart was then called to respond to the report and drive an ambulance with a paramedic.

District Court Judge Simon Stone said the evidence against Stewart was overwhelming and he was not surprised the jury returned a verdict in only 90 minutes.

He condemned Stewart for wasting the time of emergency services and said he had been a "barefaced liar" when he denied the allegation in an interview with police.

"You wasted the time and energy of a number of very important services in the community," Judge Stone said.

He suspected Stewart had made the hoax call for the "thrill" of responding to an emergency.

The court had been told the man had previously been reprimanded for driving the ambulance too fast with the emergency lights and sirens.

Stewart used the name and phone number of his 13-year-old son during the hoax call.

State Prosecutor Seamus Rafferty said it was "reprehensible" for Stewart to allow police to "grill" the boy, who broke down during the interview.

During the trial, Stewart's boss at the Collie St John office said he had recognised the volunteer's voice on the emergency call.

Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Patti Chong, he said he was "95 per cent" sure the voice on the call was Stewart's.

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