SINGAPORE - A pest controller, feeling melancholic after drinking, dialled the "999" police hotline and said he was "going to be dead".

It was a prank call, and it earned Yeo Cheng Tee a jail sentence of five weeks on Wednesday (Aug 23).

Yeo, 47, admitted to calling "999" on May 16, 2017, with intent to annoy the emergency services.

Assistant Superintendent Sulaiman Yusof said that a civilian police officer attached to the Police Operations Command Centre received a call from Yeo that evening, saying: "Tonight I'm going to be dead."

Yeo also mentioned that he was tired, had no energy, and had been cheated.

He hung up before revealing his location.

The police were alerted, and the call was traced to a pay phone at Block 6A, Boon Tiong Road, near Tiong Bahru.

But no one was around the pay phone when police arrived.

Investigations showed that similar calls linked to Yeo had previously been made.

Police officers found him at home in Jalan Bukit Ho Swee.

Yeo admitted that he called "999" after drinking as he was feeling "sad about his life situation".

He could have been fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to one year for the offence.