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A serial hoax-caller who triggered a police investigation while he was in prison over false claims that a baby had been murdered with a baseball bat has been given more time behind bars.

Sheffield Crown Court heard on March 29 how inmate Joe Birch, aged 28, had initially called The Samaritans from Doncaster prison, at Marsh Gate, with false information that a baby was being attacked and killed with a bat at an address in Merseyside and this was passed to police who launched an investigation.

Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, said the Samaritans alerted the Metropolitan Police who alerted Merseyside Police and they attended an address, much to the distress of the innocent occupant who was told by police they were investigating a child murder.

Mr Outhwaite added: “He noticed outside the address a number of police cars and he was bemused and puzzled and was further shocked by banging on the door.

Pictured is hoax-caller Joe Birch, aged 28, of Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 15 months of custody after he pleaded guilty to sending a false communication from HMP Doncaster as a prisoner falsely claiming to the Samaritans that a child was being beaten with a bat in Merseyside which triggered a police investigation.

“And he opened the door to the flat and saw officers outside and they told him they had received a report of a child being murdered at this address with a baseball bat.”

Police searched the flat, according to Mr Outhwaite, and questioned the occupant who told them he and his wife did not have any children at the property before the officers were satisfied and left.

Mr Outhwaite said the occupant was left shocked and confused and as the bogus report filtered through the police force two more officers visited the same property making their own enquiries about a suspected injured child.

Police eventually sourced the hoax call to HMP Doncaster, according to Mr Outhwaite, and established that Birch’s former partner, who lived near to the provided location, had appeared to have been the intended target.

Pictured is HMP Doncaster, at Marsh Gate, Doncaster.

Mr Outhwaite said Birch’s phone account showed 51 calls to the Samaritans with many concerning him seeking help as he struggled with his incarceration.

Birch, who had been living at a hostel in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to sending a communication with false information after the incident in December, 2020.

The court also heard that Birch has 13 previous convictions for 31 offences including harassment, making bomb hoaxes, raising false fire alarms, making indecent or menacing phone calls, using the public phone network to cause a nuisance, and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Defence barrister Kevin Jones said since Birch’s latest offending came to light he has also been recalled to prison to continue serving an existing custodial sentence until July.

Mr Jones added that Birch is autistic, has struggled to live independently and has since been incarcerated at Leeds where the prison operates a 23-hour lockdown system allowing the defendant only one-hour outside of his cell for recreation.

Birch has been assessed by a psychological service to help address his issues, according to Mr Jones, and as soon as he is released the defendant hopes to return to his mother’s home in Barnsley.

Judge Graham Reeds KC told Birch: “Your criminal record demonstrates that there is something very odd and worrying about you.”

He sentenced Birch to 15 months of custody and made him subject to an indefinite restraining order to protect his ex-partner.

Sheffield Crown Court: Hoax caller jailed for sparking police probe into bogus baby murder