coastguard volunteer wasted around £170k making fake mercy calls so he could join rescue missions. Leon Marandola, 20, made hoax calls over a two-month period between June and August 2019 to increase his chances of being selected on call outs.
The lifeboat volunteer's false alarms triggered huge emergency responses including sending out helicopters, coastguard rescue officers, and RNLI lifeboats costing a fortune.
Marandola, who had joined the Buckie RNLI team as a volunteer in May 2019, admitted breaching the Communications Act by knowingly providing false information during an earlier hearing at Elgin Sherriff Court.Prosecutors said Marandola made the calls while he was near the lifeboat station to increase the likelihood he would be.
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