Inflight Hoaxer Jailed
April 14th 2011 15:18
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A man who falsely claimed mid-air that the man next to him was a suicide bomber threatening to blow up the plane has been jailed for three years.
James Glen, a 38-year-old car painter from Scotland, sparked panic among crew and passengers when he made the claim on a flight from Abu Dhabi to London.
Part way through the journey, and after drinking heavily, he told a stewardess that the man sitting beside him was armed with a gun and a bomb which he had threatened to detonate.
When the pilot of the A340 airbus reported the threat to air traffic controllers, two Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to help an emergency landing. The hoax came on the same day as a suicide bombing at MoscowÂs Domodedovo airport in which 37 people, including one Briton, were killed.
On landing, police questioned and searched Glen and Ali Ghazanfar, the innocent passenger sat next to him. When they found nothing suspicious, Glen was arrested.
Sentencing Glen, who admitted communicating information about a bomb hoax, Judge Charles Gratwicke said it was aserious threat that had brought fear to those on the flight.
Your behaviour in maintaining Mr Ali had a gun and was threatening to blow himself up must have struck fear into the heart of the unfortunate stewardess, he said.
Your lies triggered a series of events culminating in the scrambling of two RAF fighter planes which escorted the plane into its diverted destination, Stansted, where the passengers, particularly Mr Ali, were grossly inconvenienced.
The court heard that Glen had been returning to the UK after almost 20 years in Australia and was flying home to start a new life.
Duncan Penny, for the defence, said Glen had a reported history of depression, had consumed alcohol together with an antihistamine drug, and had also expressed a fear of flying.
He simply cannot remember what took place. His behaviour was very odd, strange, unwise and idiotic.
The volume of alcohol he had was the catalyst for this completely out-of-character behaviour, Mr Penny said.
Prosecutors had previously told the court that Glen was intoxicated.
He began to give a strange account that Mr Ali was menacing him, demanding money and threatening him and his family if he didnt meet it. That Mr Ali had a bomb and was threatening to bomb himself up and the plane with it, Mark Lakin, for the prosecution, told the court.
The instance the threats were made it put this incident into a category where action had to be taken
The air hostess on the Etihad Airways plane, which was carrying 163 passengers and 15 crew, was only on her third flight, the court heard.
Sentencing, the judge said: Those who commit these types of offences can expect to received substantial sentences both to punish them and deter others.
James Glen, a 38-year-old car painter from Scotland, sparked panic among crew and passengers when he made the claim on a flight from Abu Dhabi to London.
Part way through the journey, and after drinking heavily, he told a stewardess that the man sitting beside him was armed with a gun and a bomb which he had threatened to detonate.
Your behaviour in maintaining Mr Ali had a gun and was threatening to blow himself up must have struck fear into the heart of the unfortunate stewardess
When the pilot of the A340 airbus reported the threat to air traffic controllers, two Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to help an emergency landing. The hoax came on the same day as a suicide bombing at MoscowÂs Domodedovo airport in which 37 people, including one Briton, were killed.
On landing, police questioned and searched Glen and Ali Ghazanfar, the innocent passenger sat next to him. When they found nothing suspicious, Glen was arrested.
Sentencing Glen, who admitted communicating information about a bomb hoax, Judge Charles Gratwicke said it was aserious threat that had brought fear to those on the flight.
Your behaviour in maintaining Mr Ali had a gun and was threatening to blow himself up must have struck fear into the heart of the unfortunate stewardess, he said.
Your lies triggered a series of events culminating in the scrambling of two RAF fighter planes which escorted the plane into its diverted destination, Stansted, where the passengers, particularly Mr Ali, were grossly inconvenienced.
The court heard that Glen had been returning to the UK after almost 20 years in Australia and was flying home to start a new life.
Duncan Penny, for the defence, said Glen had a reported history of depression, had consumed alcohol together with an antihistamine drug, and had also expressed a fear of flying.
He simply cannot remember what took place. His behaviour was very odd, strange, unwise and idiotic.
The volume of alcohol he had was the catalyst for this completely out-of-character behaviour, Mr Penny said.
Prosecutors had previously told the court that Glen was intoxicated.
He began to give a strange account that Mr Ali was menacing him, demanding money and threatening him and his family if he didnt meet it. That Mr Ali had a bomb and was threatening to bomb himself up and the plane with it, Mark Lakin, for the prosecution, told the court.
The instance the threats were made it put this incident into a category where action had to be taken
The air hostess on the Etihad Airways plane, which was carrying 163 passengers and 15 crew, was only on her third flight, the court heard.
Sentencing, the judge said: Those who commit these types of offences can expect to received substantial sentences both to punish them and deter others.
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