And Finally... Puppy steals phone and calls police

By James Shepherd on May 20, 09 12:16 PM in News

Police operators thought someone was being hounded by a murderer when they heard whining on a 999 call.

Fears of at least a violent domestic increased when muffled voices were followed by a man barking: "Come out or else. I'm warning you."

But after the line went dead and the number was traced, worried officers found the "emergency" was the fault of a naughty puppy which had stolen its owners' telephone.

When they quickly got through to Jodie Halfpenny's home, she apologetically answered: "Our golden retriever Bailey must have been biting down repeatedly on the number nine.

"He ran off with our cordless in his mouth and hid behind the garden shed as my husband Jamie chased him and yelled out trying to get it back."

Child support worker Jodie, 20, told the Mirror yesterday the 14-month-old pet loves to play and had come downstairs with the phone at their home in Withington, Hereford, knowing car service adviser Jamie, 25, would chase him.

She said: "Bailey chews everything he can just now - but we didn't think he could dial 999.

"I don't think the policeman who rang later believed me at first when I told him what all the screaming was about. He was very serious."

The West Mercia force confirmed: "We thought we had a murder or violent domestic on our hands - especially when the line went dead."

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