An 18-year-old retained firefighter charged with making false calls to the triple-0 emergency line appeared in Young Local Court in south-west NSW on Tuesday.
Simon Ricky McIsaac, of Monteagle Road, Young, allegedly received payment for attending the scene of the fake emergencies.
Retained firefighters are paid an hourly rate of $29 for attending emergency incidents.
McIsaac is charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage and 18 counts of making false calls to an emergency service number.
Police will allege the calls were made to Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) between August 21 and December 20 last year.
His solicitor, Rachael Power, sought an adjournment to gather more material.
The application was granted and the case was adjourned until March 19.
McIsaac will have to enter a plea to the charges on that day.
No bail was required.
A suppression to keep McIsaac’s identity a secret was denied last week.
He applied for the order on grounds including Young is a “relatively small town” and his family is “well known” throughout the town.
In his judgment, magistrate Peter Dare stated under the Court Suppression and Non-Publication Order Act, the primary object of the administration of justice is to safeguard the public interest in open justice.
“I fully appreciate that the identity of the applicant in the local court charges will doubtless be the subject of media publicity,” Mr Dare said.
“This will bring attendant embarrassment not only to the applicant but to his family.
“(However), there is little a court can do about rumour mongering in a ‘relatively small town’.”
McIsaac was also a volunteer for the Rural Fire Service.
