Worthing man sentenced for making nuisance calls to police posing as elderly woman

A man from Worthing who made repeated hoax calls to police while pretending to be an elderly woman has been sentenced for malicious communications offences.

Richard Cove, 49, of Boundary Road, Worthing, made more than 30 calls to Sussex Police’s non-emergency 101 line between June 2023 and September 2024. Posing under various aliases including “Helen Cheeseman”, he asked call handlers personal questions and made fetish-related remarks, wasting over three hours of police time. On one day alone, he made 60 calls from his mobile phone, withholding his number.

Cove pleaded guilty at Worthing Magistrates’ Court in April and was sentenced on 7 July to ten weeks in prison, suspended for 24 months. He was also issued with a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order restricting his use of police phone lines, ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, and pay £85 in court costs. Sussex Police said Cove deliberately targeted female officers and diverted resources from serious investigations.