Man charged over rescue "hoax"
From thewest.com
A 24-year-old man has been charged over a hoax distress call which sparked an extensive air and sea search on the weekend.
The unemployed Clarkson man has been charged with creating a false belief regarding human safety.
The maximum penalty is two years' jail and a $50,000 fine.
Police will also seek restitution for the $50,000 search costs.
The man is expected to appear in court tomorrow. He was taken to Warwick police station earlier today for questioning.
It is believed the man is a CB radio enthusiast who has previously worked as a deckhand and is a voluntary firefighter.
Earlier today, a senior sea and rescue volunteer said anyone found guilty of such a hoax should be forced to spend a year of their life as a sea rescue volunteer.
The call sparked a grid search of more than 2500sqkm of ocean with no sign of the boat or crew.
Metropolitan Sea Rescue Group president Roger Howell said the person responsible should be forced to work on his rescue squad once police were through with him.
“We feel abused and it’s not about money or fuel spent …but we go out in the hope we are going to see someone clinging to an upturned piece of furniture and pull them aboard,” he said.
Mr Howell, who is also deputy commander of the Whitfords Volunteer Sea Rescue Group, spent eight hours leading the search and said volunteers were exhausted.
He said the search stretched sea and rescue volunteers to the limit.
Doubts were raised about the call after a grid search of more than 2500sq km of ocean failed to find any sign of the supposedly stricken vessel and its crew.
Members of the public had also called police claiming they knew the man who made the distress call as a prank.
Sgt Wear said 18 water police staff and volunteers in boats spent about 19 hours searching for the vessel and its crew.
A police-chartered plane and the State rescue helicopter also searched.
mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
Atleast they caught the
Atleast they caught the A$$hole, maybe a good reminder to anyone else who would ever think about doing it
Ryan Thipthorp (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
careless!
I thought it sounded like a prank and sad to see it end that way!
This tosser should get the full punishment and hopefully a sentence,$$$ and agree with volunteer service work to really make him aware of his careless actions!
Iceman
Posts: 747
Date Joined: 17/03/09
Recording of calls
Many people donot know that we record all calls coming in & out from Whitfords Sea Rescue so we can verify details if needed and check any calls missed. If I had my way I would drop him out of helicopter about 20 nm miles offshore wait 24 hrs and then we might go and look for him. That way he would know what it is like for people who do get stuck out there waiting to be found.
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Faulkner Family
Posts: 18092
Date Joined: 11/03/08
was thinking along the same
was thinking along the same lines and then pay up the 100k and spend 2 years behind bars and im sure when he gets out all the sea rescue buildings will need a bloody good clean 1 by 1 with a tooth brush
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Matt T
Posts: 875
Date Joined: 19/11/07
Dropkick
He should do jail time I rekon. He's probably on the dole anyway so a fine's just going to be paid off at a couple of bucks a fortnight out of his cheque at our expense. Imagine another boat had really gone down while all the resources were tied up with this dickhead's hoax. Uncomprehensable.
chrisp
Posts: 1217
Date Joined: 24/05/08
What a tosser..
I Don't think the rest of the volunteers would be too keen to work next to him if he was sent to do the volunteer work.He Would probably cop a few punches in the snout hopefully!
Blank Cheque
Posts: 221
Date Joined: 28/03/09
Well at least he has been caught
I hope this sends a message to all others who are thinking of pulling something like this.
Jail is the key money he will find or steal to pay any fine. As we all know you cant get money out of stone. Bastar@
Garry
Its a little late to head home early
schecky
Posts: 1645
Date Joined: 25/08/08
why would you even do that?
why would you even do that? what do you achieve?
flagpole
Posts: 285
Date Joined: 14/05/09
dick head
wat a dick wasting all those peoples time and valuable resources hope they take him for wat hes worth
wopjrb
Posts: 1407
Date Joined: 05/03/09
how come i have to watch my language and you can swear!
MATE! BLOCK IT OUT LIKE THIS@#$$%%
catchalittle
Posts: 1875
Date Joined: 04/09/08
How could anyone be so
How could anyone be so stupid to do something like that I do agree with iceman that would teach him a lesson but I suppose that might go against his human rights hope he gets the max sentence to think that the rest of us that are out on the water and could have been in genuine trouble and no resources available because of this idiot.Thats something the judge should also consider when he sentences
,I suppose if he gets jail time he might get himself a few new boyfriends to teach him a lesson each night
Nathan
shabba
Posts: 484
Date Joined: 26/02/08
what a f**king wanker.. hope
what a f**king wanker.. hope the c**t gets the max penalty, 2 year jail & 50,000 fine.....................
Mick
Posts: 501
Date Joined: 28/08/06
Couldn't agree any more.
Couldn't agree any more. What an oxygen thief. Too be honest, as a volunteer firey up here, I would hate to have someone like that standing along side of me as part of his " punishment ". I , for one, could not handle it and I know everyone else in the brigade would be the same. Is jail the answer? Dont know? Massive fine? The fwit is unemployed so will never be able to pay or repay the debt. Maybe the barnacle scrubber off of all the sea rescue boats when the time comes. With his face
Cheers Mick
If the lord did not mean for us to eat fish and game, he wouldn't have made them outta meat
The speed of light is faster than the speed of sound. That's why so many people appear bright...until they speak.
callum
Posts: 417
Date Joined: 29/10/08
jobs
spot on mick, he's gunna have fun trying to pay a $50,000 fine
happy fishing
fishcrazy
Posts: 1235
Date Joined: 27/01/07
idiot
what a pole smoker he should be taken out 40 km and left to float around in the dark with the biteys see if he thinks its fun , that way he would know what other genuine ppl go through, hope they chuck the book at him or at least beat the crap out of him with it loser
Lui_F
Posts: 36
Date Joined: 02/03/08
Idiot
From the way the Mayday call went the idiot knew all the correct procedures and what to say, you would think with that type of knowledge he would know that you should not f*@k with the system as it's there for all of us in the hope we never need it, the son of a b*&#h should be taken out 40NM west of rotto in a old leaking boat and given 1 oar and told to row back to shore and if he's not back in 24hrs some will go looking for him and hopefully he will be found in a very bad way!!
Paul G
Posts: 5215
Date Joined: 12/12/07
I would be happy to tack him
I would be happy to take him out for a fish ,he may not come back though
Active Gyp-Rok solutions ,Residential and commercial ceilings and walls
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
What a Loser
No doubt he'll have some half baked story about how he's been depressed lately, how his life has been turned upside down, alcohol etc etc. A jail sentence would send a strong message, but what are the chances of that. What an absolute flogger !!
gpc123
Posts: 265
Date Joined: 12/02/07
Simple
Keelhaul the bastard....
Keelhauling (Dutch kielhalen[1]; "to drag along the keel") was a severe form of corporal punishment meted out to sailors at sea. The sailor was tied to a rope that looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and dragged under the ship's keel to the other side. As the hull was often covered in barnacles and other marine growth, this could result in cuts and other injuries. This generally happened if the offender was pulled quickly. If pulled slowly, his weight might lower him sufficiently to miss the barnacles but might result in his drowning.
Keelhauling was legally permitted as a punishment in the Dutch Navy. The earliest official mention of keelhauling is a Dutch ordinance of 1560, and the practice was not formally abolished until 1853. While not an official punishment, it was reportedly used by some British Royal Navy and merchant marine captains, and has become strongly associated with pirate lore
Regards Geoff
Single dad and proud of him
roberta
Posts: 2773
Date Joined: 08/07/08
Agree then I'd put
concrete slippers on this twit and tell him to walk home
Ginger Tablets Rock
jersey
Posts: 393
Date Joined: 12/06/08
I agree
With all the above,and certainly the cost of this drop kicks stupidity is one thing,but what about the risk of injury to the rescuers,the cops and the voluntary people.luck was that nothing happened but if someone did get injured or drowned looking for this plick,what then.jersey
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
If he hasnt a job and wont
If he hasnt a job and wont be paying the fine he can clean the sea rescue building with a toothbrush for a couple of years.
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
wadetolley
Posts: 2258
Date Joined: 27/06/08
I say
I say take him 40nm north of rotto were he said he was..drop him off in a boat and give him one oar! What a idiot....
Daniel Y
Posts: 423
Date Joined: 30/09/05
lol. sounds like a plan! imo
lol. sounds like a plan!
imo make the prick repay all costs and give him a nice hefty fine or jail term on top to teach him a lesson and to warn other knobs not to do the same thing.
personally I don't think him working with the sea rescue would be a good thing because I for one wouldn't trust him, and I'm sure the other volunteers would also not want to put their life in his hands.
maybe making him scrub the barnacles of their boats for a year would do the trick though ;)
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18092
Date Joined: 11/03/08
not working with them but
not working with them but for them. as i said earlier there are a lot of sea rescue buildings that need a good clean
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
wopjrb
Posts: 1407
Date Joined: 05/03/09
tie him up in a basket and let the public urinate on him
.
DhuBoi
Posts: 896
Date Joined: 25/05/09
HAHAHA funny shit, all i can
HAHAHA funny shit, all i can say its RETARD
living is fishing
Iceman
Posts: 747
Date Joined: 17/03/09
Joondalup Court - Scott Bradley Pike
Have been advised he will in Joondalup Court tomorrow. Myself an some of the other volunteers that were involved in the search will be attending so the judge can see us and not take any of his crap about how bad his life is. We also have families and if something happened to us what would they do. Hope he rots in hell!!!!!!!
Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers - Level 1, 11 Hobsons Gate Currambine
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carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Uniforms
Make sure you wear your uniforms to give the magistrate the message.If I could get down for it I would be wearing mine for sure.
We've had 3 false alarms from parachute flare sightings over the last two months,all down towards the beach,on a Thursday night around 8 oclock at night.So we all head down to the building,plot out where the flare may have come from and check with police to see if we launch a full scale search.So after a couple of hours driving round checking all location from where the sightings were made it was decided it was a prank.
The flares were believed to be stolen off some laid up trawlers that were broken into and had gear stolen and the worst part is we have no idea how many flares were stolen and how many they still have.
I know what I'd like to do with a flare if I catch them
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18092
Date Joined: 11/03/08
like i said in the other
like i said in the other post , name shouldnt have been mentioned , but it is now MUD,
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Dasho
Posts: 488
Date Joined: 24/03/06
Lets hope the WA justice
Lets hope the WA justice system doesn't fail us like it usually does, and he gets more than just a slap on the wrist with some counselling.
Don't get your hopes up on a hopeless system!
Hammerhead
Posts: 88
Date Joined: 22/09/09
What Motivates
What motivates a person to do something like this???
Are they Pi#$%d off with someone they know in the industry???
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18092
Date Joined: 11/03/08
most of the time i would say
most of the time i would say they are bored but some people get off when there is action , just got to look at all the fires that are lit by volunteer fire fighters.
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
DazSamFishing
Posts: 1518
Date Joined: 19/08/09
He needs a good punch in the
He needs a good punch in the throat.
shadowSS
Posts: 1
Date Joined: 19/10/09
scotts action
He has done this sort of radio communications before and been charged
He is one messed up kid, lets hope they jail him for a long time
check out
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/20/1082395846101.html
and
http://abc.gov.au/news/stories/2004/05/20/1112366.htm
joe amato
Posts: 731
Date Joined: 21/12/08
absolute w-n-er
what an absolute w-n-er,wasting everyones time and effort searching,hope they throw the book at him and make an example of him................
Dasho
Posts: 488
Date Joined: 24/03/06
Hopefully he gets locked up,
Hopefully he gets locked up, then he can send distress calls from prison on his pretend CB radio he has made out of a tissue box and a bar of soap. "Mayday, mayday, mayday, some scary blokes are about to take me down, my cell is taking on water from all my tears."
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
but under stupid WA and
but under stupid WA and Federal guidelines a jury would not be allowed to know about theses previous crimes and convictions...
I bet you he will get a fine again, suspended sentence and go home smiling.
not a single judge in this bloody state has the balls to ever toss the max sentence at pricks like this.
Every boat owner should protest outside the court or via petition for the max sentence to be handed down.
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
GrahamM
Posts: 648
Date Joined: 19/01/09
Like Tony and Dasho say the
Like Tony and Dasho say the sad thing is that we have these maximun penalties and the are not any judges that will actually impose them and the legal system lets them out early even when the max is imposed. i agree he proberly will end up with a pissy fine and go home to his nice warm bed at the end of the day. bet if he was in thailand he wouldnt have done it cause their legal system has balls.
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
yeah, can 100% agree, I am
yeah, can 100% agree,
I am in Thailand at the moment just south of Bangkok and they don't take any cr@p here. Also a jail is a bloody scary place here and not some lux room with tv and video games!!!!
That little prick will get off on " social issues" and his daddy was mean to him and his mom mentally abused him and he is trying to kick some habit or something...( you know the cr@p they spout out)
I vote we just lynch him good old Texas style....;-)
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
Webby
Posts: 835
Date Joined: 24/09/08
one day he might be in real
one day he might be in real trouble out there, then he'll be buggered, just makes it harder for the next bloke that needs a rescue and there is dought in everyones mind if its genuine.
I live with fear every day... sometimes she lets me go fishing.
Iceman
Posts: 747
Date Joined: 17/03/09
Joondalup Court
Have just come from Joondalup Court where 10 of our members in uniform attended. Should have seen the look on his face when he saw us. The magistrate took note of our attendance. has been given bail to reattend court on the 11 Novembers. One of the bail conditions is he does not use UHF & VHF radios, although not sure how they will mnitor this when he has them in home and can buy a replacement for theo one that was taken by the police.
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mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
they should have taken all
they should have taken all his radio equipment in his house.
The look on his face would have been priceless i would say
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18092
Date Joined: 11/03/08
set up a blocking deviced
set up a blocking deviced around his house, maybe more people should turn up on 11 november and make him sweat big time. good to see 10 members in uniform there
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
just dhu it
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 14/05/09
pay for it
i believe he should pay for the outstanding costs and jail time , but more i would like to see similar to the drug dealers and confiscate his house and sell it to cover costs, $ 50 k additional loan on his mortgage wont hurt him for to long , sell his house and he might have some explaining to his family and kids for quite a few years , if it had been a rough weather that night and we lost a rescue person or equipment the rescue group would have far more pressure put on them , and their staff for trying to do the right thing as a volounteer service for the public, this would certainly ring a few more warning bells for other idiots out there thinking they will not get caught
catchalittle
Posts: 1875
Date Joined: 04/09/08
I totally agree with the
I totally agree with the posts on here but just read the news post on Perth today and mentioned that he is a father not much of a father but would hate to see his kids made homless by his stupid actions its not the kids fault that their old man is a loser I totally agree with the jail time more the merrier have a few mates that are officers in the prison systems.Oh dear they fogot to lock his cell door and now he is doing a Harold and Kuma and having a c*** meat samwich each day
Nathan
Ryan Thipthorp (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
yep!
Unemployed?.....well FORCE him to work every day until the debts paid off and he doesnt receive a red cent. He'll have plenty of time to re-think what he's done and if he doesnt complete the debt, he spends the time in Jail!
Makes too much sense for a complicated justice system and agree the courts need to use the frigen "Max" penalty not just talk about it!
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
yip Ryan, we treat the
yip Ryan, we treat the crooks and bad guys far too easy in WA!
Nothing like an old fashion chain gang work force to get people back into being good citizens again.
this guy would clean WA up in a week, we should send our pollies and judges over too see him for advice!
Ask Sheriff Joe Arpaio how to sort out our convicted idiots here...
http://www.natgeochannel.co.uk/programmes/americas-hardest-prisons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1tfIKUZ0fY
Tony
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
If it has not been mentioned
If it has not been mentioned before the last two guys in karratha had top pay back $43,000 for bthe rescue costs,,add a fine and its big biccys for the unemployed,,
Kingfisher549
Posts: 328
Date Joined: 15/09/09
Idiot
Got a craypot he would fit into nicely. Has got about as much brain matter as a cray.
Baron Sportsman Custom
yane
Posts: 3
Date Joined: 13/10/09
2 years behind bars is not
2 years behind bars is not enough, what he did was absolutley stupid, next time he needs help i hope he doesn't receive any..
wopjrb
Posts: 1407
Date Joined: 05/03/09
2 years is a bloody long time
but if this guy has got a problem with this sort of thing maybe he needs longer 5 years? or maybe greylands - shock treatment - frontal lobotamy.....
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
Guys he can't work! He needs
Guys he can't work! He needs to be home to look after his sick mother
So as well as the dole he more than likely gets a carrers allowance as well
Got to love our system....
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18092
Date Joined: 11/03/08
thats no excuse for getting
thats no excuse for getting out of it, he should have thought about thatbefore he made the prank call, lock him up and charge him the full costs of rescue
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Jody
Posts: 1578
Date Joined: 19/04/07
Up again
Tomorrow is the big day.
Be interesting to hear the outcome. Hope he gets slugged >(
TWiZTED
Brutas
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 27/03/09
Did any body here
Did any one here what the out come was