A grieving widower from Ventnor, who admitted making so many nuisance calls to the coroner's office he clogged up the phone system, has been warned he could face time in prison.

 

Paul Sainsbury, of Leeson Road, pleaded guilty to three counts of persistently making use of public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on Friday.

 

It was heard how the 68-year-old disagreed with the findings of the coroner over his wife, who died a drug related death in March 2021.

 

Numerous calls were also made to the police and ambulance.

 

Liz Miller, prosecuting, said Sainsbury told staff at the coroner's office "they were a waste of f***ing breath".

 

It was said the sheer volume of calls made the services unavailable for other users.

 

Jim Osborne, defending, said the death of Sainsbury's wife impacted his mental health and his calls to the ambulance service "were a cry for help".

 

Read more: Inquest into the death of Sharon Sainsbury

He said he had been told by Sainsbury that the three services he made calls to were investigating his claims.

 

Presiding magistrate Fay Seabourne warned he was looking at a custodial sentence. A pre-sentence report is to be prepared first.

 

Sainsbury is due to be sentenced on February 10.

 

He has been granted unconditional bail until that time.