A woman affected the health of gardaí by making approximately 9,000 silent phone calls to their station, it was claimed at the Circuit Court in Clonmel,Co Tipperary, yesterday.
Ms Bridget O'Sullivan, Rathcabbin, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, a grandmother, is pleading not guilty to four charges of making annoying and harassing calls to Birr Garda station and to Kevin Kennedy, a 13-year-old from Graigue, Rathcabbin.
Mr John Walsh, for the DPP, said the silent calls made to the station took place between December 2002 and May 2003.
Typically, the calls lasted 20 seconds and the caller would then hang up.
"The situation became impossible for the gardaí to operate from the station because of the amount of phone calls coming in. It became anything but a joke," Mr Walsh said. "It was difficult for people to get through to the station if there was an emergency because Mrs O'Sullivan was on the line."
Sgt Dermot Dray of Birr Garda station said the station was receiving anything from 50 to 200 silent calls a day.
The case continues today.