French woman gets jail for calling cops 637 times

Paris - An unemployed French woman has been jailed for calling the police 637 times in the space of 48 hours last week, French media reported on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old was given a six-month jail sentence, half of which was suspended, on her twelfth court appearance on Tuesday in the central town of Bourges. She been charged with harassing the police.

The woman, who was found by psychiatrists to be suffering from depression and severe personality disorders, had been given four months probation for a similar offence in July, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

She had refused hospitalisation, reports said.

The public prosecutor accused her of acting like a "punching ball".

"The more we punish you, the more you keep coming back," he was quoted as saying.