Articles Hoax Call

Hoax Call

Hoax Call

Exmouth RNLI late evening call out found to be a hoax – Exmouth Police, Coastguards and RNLI volunteer crew all responded to an emergency call from a man claiming to have found a body on the beach near Sandy Bay.

Exmouth RNLI inshore lifeboat was tasked by Brixham Coastguards at 10.17 pm on Wednesday, 6th May. As the volunteer lifeboat crew carried out a sweeping search of the area, they were stood down once the police had discovered this was a hoax call and had arrested the man responsible.

Previous to this, the inshore lifeboat crew had two other call outs at the weekend. Both were to aid boats that had broken down and were at the mercy of the sea. On Saturday 1st May at 12.53pm the crew went to the aid of a Dijon day boat, with four persons on board, which was beaching in the Sandy Bay area. The volunteer crew towed the boat and passengers back to Exmouth.

On Sunday 2nd May at 9.18am, three people in a small RIB (Rigid Inflatable Hull) had broken down off Straight Point and were drifting dangerously toward the rocks. The volunteer crew took them under tow to the safety of Exmouth docks.

Author: ian_taylor@rnli.org.uk