A Queensland grandmother has been banned from calling triple-0 after a court found she had inappropriately phoned emergency services a thousand times in five years.
Valerie Dawn Gough, 67, faced Caboolture Magistrates Court on Tuesday and was found guilty of 302 charges, including the improper use of an emergency call service and using that service to menace and harass.
The court heard Ms Gough had called the Queensland Ambulance Service a thousand times since 2007, costing taxpayers about $1 million, A Current Affair reports.
Last year alone, Ms Gough made more than 300 calls to the emergency service, including 10 on a single day.
Police prosecutor Richard Chedzey told the court that Ms Gough had received numerous letters from the Queensland Ambulance Service telling her it was an offence to misuse the service.
But instead of stopping, the number of calls increased.
Queensland's assistant commissioner for emergency services Gavin Trembath said appearing in court for this type of offence was an "extreme circumstance".
"One false call is one too many," he said.
"We actually maintain a register of the false calls received."
Ms Gough has now been placed on probation for two years and a family member is permitted to call triple-0 in a life threatening situation.