Michael Cuminskey was jailed for faking mountain accidents
A man has been jailed for hoaxing mountain rescuers in north Wales.
Michael Cuminskey was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday.
The 23-year-old from Stockton-on-Tees sparked a rescue operation involving Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team and the Caernarfon Coastguard helicopter in March 2016 when he claimed to have been injured in a fall while walking in the Dinorwig area near Llanberis.
The court heard that he had been involved in an incident in the Lake District three days earlier on the slopes of Helvellyn during which Keswick Mountain Rescue Team volunteers spent more than four hours searching for him. An air ambulance was also involved.
Cuminskey pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance. The judge heard he had also been involved in hoax in the Scottish Borders involving mountain rescuers.
Investigating officer PC Gethin Jones of North Wales Police said: “Hoax calls put lives at risk and are a costly and wasteful use of resources and Cuminskey showed a complete disregard for this fact.
“Not only do hoax calls show a lack of respect for the emergency services, but responding to false calls divert staff and volunteers from genuine emergencies where they are needed most.
“This particular incident is estimated to have cost the public purse over £32,000 which is unforgiveable. The search and rescue helicopter was dealing with this particular incident where it could have been needed elsewhere on a genuine life-saving call.”
Phil Benbow, chair of the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association said: “Last year, mountain rescue teams in North Wales attended almost 600 incidents which is an unprecedented level of demand for our 350 volunteers who are spread across the teams in the region.
“The Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, who were called to this hoax attended 213 of these incidents alone.
“As registered charities the teams rely solely on voluntary contributions to remain operational, and maintaining this high level of service is a costly affair. Any unnecessary call on our resources carries a significant impact, and we welcome today’s sentencing having supported North Wales Police throughout the investigation.”
Keswick team members at the incident in March 2016. Photo: Keswick MRT
National Police Chief’s Council lead on search and rescue, Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said: “Mountain rescue teams, who provide an invaluable service to the public in the Snowdonia area, are staffed entirely by volunteers, who have a very difficult and challenging role, and we are indebted to the work they carry out and the lives they help to save.
“Historically north Wales is one of the busiest search and rescue regions in the UK. Colleagues from the HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Caernarfon often deal with challenging and dangerous rescues. Each unnecessary call to them reduces time available for calls which are for genuine matters. It is also a waste of operators’ time and clogs up the already pressured 999 system.
“The courts take incidents such as this very seriously and I hope this result is a reminder to those who make such hoaxes that we will take robust action against those who make hoax calls.”
While the Keswick team was dealing with Cuminskey on the western slopes of Helvellyn, it received a genuine call from a walker who broke her ankle while descending Cat Bells. A small number of volunteers from the team was able to divert to help the woman.
Cuminskey was described in court as a vulnerable young man who craved attention.
John Rouse
12 January 2018I would have thought that a lengthy spell of Community Service with a suspended jail sentence would have been more appropriate and beneficial...
Nigel
12 January 2018Just a smack on the back of the legs and try not to do it again ?
He’s wasted the emergency services time and is lucky he’s only got 16 months ........community service ????? That’s going to send out a strong message
Ian T
12 January 2018Nigel...
Ian T
12 January 2018Nigel...totally agree
Paul austin
13 January 20185 years hard labour in a quarry
Graham Ball
13 January 2018D***head
Gordon
13 January 2018Good he's been caught ,and dealt with but will he get any help into relation to why he felt the need to do this what are the underlying problem that he has,was it attention seeking or liked watching the out come of his actions,like a arsonist will stand and watch firemen putting out what he started as some kind of buzz,I don't condone what he's done but someone needs to sit down with this lad and find out why or in 16 months these hoaxes might start again and the outcome might be loss of life,.the folks from MRT do a tremendous job not forgetting the boys and girls from other agency's that support MRT 's across the uk not forgetting the outer Hebrides,great bunch up there.last year was extremely busy without hoax calls ,let's hope this year is less,after all it's not the front line guys we have to think about but the family's supporting these folks,that's TEAMWORK......
Tony Vearnals
13 January 2018Prison for a saddo like that is another waste of money. Community service, tagging and curfew for a long priod would have been more useful and less expensive. He's obviously got learning diabilities.
Roger thompson
13 January 2018I would force him to actually spend a year with the mountain rescue service, he may gain a new respect for how hard they work, and you never know he may stay on
Tinjohn
13 January 2018This sentence is ridiculous. People who kill others in their car get less than this young man. He needs help and support not prisiob
The Nebit
13 January 2018Agree with comments by others that this sentence is ridiculous. He should have got treatment for whatever's wrong with his mental health instead and a bit of compassion and support. Sending people to jail only makes a petty criminal into a hardcore criminal. The poor lad is going to get raped and abused in prison.
Nigel
13 January 2018I wonder if all you do gooders would have the same opinion if somebody from the rescue team had been seriously injured or worse ? Probably . It always gets flipped so they are the victims of society and they need to be supported ...... they know what they are doing is wrong so how’s about they take stock of their actions
Peter Owens
14 January 2018The judge, Huw Rees, said that only a custodial sentence was appropriate to send a message to other potential hoaxers. That has to be a strong consideration - hoax calls to all the emergency services, including mountain rescue, are far too common.
The young man seems to have behavioural problems - other press reports tell of aggression towards hospital and emergency staff and he had to be forcibly removed from the dock at Caernarfon Court. It makes sense (for everyone's benefit) to provide support to help him deal with these problems, but given the present woeful state of the prison and probation services, it seems unlikely that much help will be provided for him in prison, or after. The same applies to non-custodial sentences.
Hopefully he has enough intelligence to realise that the judge's reasoning applies to him more than anyone and repeating the actions on his release is highly likely to produce the same result - another trip to jail. The shock of a prison sentence may thus be the most effective way of changing his behaviour.
heidi
14 January 2018Talk to the poor lad? Give him compassion and support? What?? That's why there's so much crime in this country coz we are far too soft with criminals. There is nothing wrong with his mental health, he is just an idiot
Beth Roberts
16 January 2018I'm inclined to agree with Heidi on this one.
Seems the first line of any criminal defence these days is 'mental health issues'..........
OldManOfTheHills
16 January 2018I think a custodial sentence is appropriate and should be widely publicised to discourage such behaviour. I know the young man has issues but accident victims could have died while rescuers were distracted. Rescuers could have died or suffered severe injury seeking non-existent victims. Sadly I think talking to him nicely would have made no difference - it just the same as stalkers. To say he is dysfunctional does not excuse wrong doing unless you believe he is incapable of recognising wrong doing.
Whether it should have been a suspended sentence is another matter, but the judge was there at the trial not you and I
Alan P
17 January 2018Scum, sub-human scum.
Nigel
18 January 2018Scums abit harsh
Fenix
27 January 2018Sentencing seems random these days. Kill someone with a car and you can even get off without a ban. And usually no jail time.
I can't see his sentence being a deterrent to anyone. I doubt these people are smart enough to look up their likely punishment.
He clearly needs help - will he get it in prison ?
I'd have gone for a longer period of community service. Something that could help him understand the consequences of his actions.
And take his mobile off him.
K Parsons
24 September 2020Next time he needs the NHS and related services for skin injuries, 'just say no'. He has taken up far more time and follow-up medical attention than most of us can seek in a lifetime for more serious conditions such as stroke or cancer.