Fire hoaxer freed on appeal

Hoy made his first call 12 minutes into the strike

A man jailed for making hoax fire calls has been released from prison pending an appeal against his 21-day jail term.

James Hoy, 51, only spent a few minutes in custody before his solicitor appealed against the sentence imposed at the District Court in Perth on Wednesday.

Unemployed Hoy, from Blairgowrie, became the first person to be convicted of making hoax 999 calls during the firefighters' strike.

Hoy, who has a drink problem, claimed he had made the malicious calls because he was against the strike and wanted to register his disgust.

He made three calls from his home phone, the first just 12 minutes after the strike began on 13 November.