A FORMER Taunton man has been labelled a fantasist and jailed for wasting police time during the hunt for the killer of five prostitutes.
Andrew Purdy, who used to live in Taunton and Curry Rivel, pleaded guilty to wasting 50 hours of police time as they investigated the murders of five Ipswich women last December and January.
He was jailed for three months at the beginning of the week.
In sentencing Purdy at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court District, Judge David Cooper told him he was forlorn and pathetic and hoped that the sentence would deter others.
The court had been told that Purdy had contacted police 27 times to complain he was receiving threats that his former home would be firebombed.
Twice police put him in a hotel, and they also installed a panic alarm in his home.
The court also heard Purdy had similar previous convictions.
Purdy has previously said he would buy the Hydrographic Office in Taunton and stop it moving to Exeter.
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