A HOMOPHOBIC nuisance caller bit a police officer who went to arrest him for ignoring a ban to stop dialling 999 and 101.

David Peapell wasted police time by making 21 calls to the non-emergency line between February and May this year.

He had been ordered not to call the police unless in an emergency after his rambling and ranting telephone calls.

In one call he used homophobic slurs to whinge about social media and hate crime, then in another call he moaned about the dark web and asked what officers were doing about it.

Police say that many of his calls lasted for a long time, which tied up officers and prevented others who needed to report crime from doing so.

A Criminal Behaviour Order was imposed to stop him interrupting the vital work of police contact handlers and controllers, unless there was a genuine emergency.

But the 51-year-old ignored the order, so PC James Breeds was sent to arrest him at his address in Dyke Road in Hove in May.

It was when PC Breeds attempted to restrain him that Peapell lashed out and bit the officer on the arm.

An image from the scene shows the bite marks on the PC’s wrist.

PC Breeds said: “Peapell repeatedly called the non-emergency police number 101. The number of calls in this case alone amounted to more than an hour of call duration which would have meant longer waiting times for the public to get through on the non-emergency number.

“The content of his calls were not only frustrating but on a number of the calls, Peapell used derogatory language, made inappropriate comments and swore at the call takers.”

Peapell was found guilty of breaching the behaviour order and assaulting an officer by a jury at Lewes Crown Court.

He was sent to prison for 11 weeks.

PC Breeds added: “When I went to detain Peapell, he became aggressive and bit me on the arm. I was only trying to do my job.

“The actions and behaviour of Peapell were totally unacceptable and the custodial sentence he received reflects this.”

Last month Chief Superintendent Jane Derrick invited the public and the press to open days at the control room at Lewes.

She said that handlers deal with an average of two calls every minute for every hour of the day, all year round.

Police help persistent and problematic callers who may be vulnerable or have mental health problems. The conviction of Peapell is a sign that the force is also cracking down on timewasters.