Thurso woman ‘sorry’ after unnecessary 999 call on Orkney visit

A Thurso resident has been fined for a spurious 999 call she made during a visit to Orkney.

Alison McPartlin was at the time subject to a special bail condition which banned her from contacting the emergency services when there was not an emergency.

She had been staying in an Airbnb near Finstown when she made the call just after 10pm on the evening of October 25, Kirkwall Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday.

Procurator fiscal Sue Foard said the 58-year-old identified herself to the operator. “She told the operator that she had been told that she was to kill herself or be arrested. She also said she had been unable to make contact with her lawyer and she couldn’t keep herself safe and had no plans.”

Police were informed and within 10 minutes officers arrived at her lodgings where they found the door ajar and nobody inside. After a brief search, they tracked her down to a beach directly below the cottage.

Ms Foard said: “The tide was out and the accused wasn’t in the water and there was no sign she had come to any harm.”

A medical at Balfour Hospital found she was fit to be taken into custody.

She told officers: “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have contacted the emergency services.”

McPartlin, of The Maltings, Couper Square, on Wednesday admitted the bail breach.

Solicitor Fiona MacDonald said her client has a tragic history and a “chequered” past in her interactions with authorities.

She had received support for her autism for several decades until it ended early in 2023. She then moved to Thurso.

Ms MacDonald said during her time in the Caithness town, McPartlin has had visits from the police after people raised “unfounded” concern about her welfare. This, Ms MacDonald believed, stemmed from her coming across as “slightly different”.

She said this had a particularly troubling effect on her because of her autism.

McPartlin has since been supported by Highland Advocacy and has been able to have her medicine better regulated.

“She has difficulties but she’s aware of her difficulties and limitations and she has accepted that she shouldn’t have behaved as she did on the day in question,” said her agent.

Imposing a £200 fine and £10 victim surcharge, Sheriff Robert McDonald said: “You did cause some difficulties with the emergency services in that you took them away from what might have been a positive emergency.”