AUDIO recordings of a man disguising his voice and calling the NHS more than 1,200 times have been released.

It comes after Richard Cove, 45, confessed to indulging in his foot fetish while he made 1,263 phone calls to NHS 111 operators.

He has been given a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for two years following a two-year investigation.

Cove, from Worthing, became known as the "foot fetish caller" as he would ask call handlers about their feet and height as well as telling them about his own feet.

He admitted being aroused by feet, especially the thought of the call handlers feet, according to Prosecutor Natalie Roepke.

Worthing Magistrates heard how he disguised his voice and pretending to be an elderly woman while asking the call handlers about their own feet.

In the audio of the calls, Cove can be heard complaining about "suffering from smelly sweaty feet."

On another call, Cove, who posed as Paulo Duvall, says: "What it is, is on my ankle. I have a bite on one the side of the foot."

When asked by the call handler if he has anything on tight around his foot, he simply replies, saying: "No, I have bare feet".

He made similar nuisance calls during a period lasting more than two years, having started in April 2019.

During this time, he gave fake phone numbers and addresses, which led to members of the public being called at all hours of the day and night.

This caused ambulances to be sent to homes in the South East, London and the North West.

On one occasion, firefighters smashed their way into someone's home after Cove gave false information. The damage cost £250 to be fixed.

The cost to the NHS and Police in time and trying to trace him down is estimated to be at £21,869.20.

Cove admitted indulging his foot fetish, however, he denied masturbating while making the calls

He will join a sex offenders treatment programme and will have to do 200 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days.

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