A man from Birmingham has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to communicating false information about a hoax bomb threat and breach of a Sexual Harm Protection Order (SHPO).
John Blackwell, aged 26 from Washwood Heath Road, Birmingham, appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Monday 1 March.
Blackwell was arrested on 26 January and charged on 28 January following a report of a hoax bomb threat in Worcester.
He maliciously communicated that Worcester Police Station on Castle Street was subject to a bomb threat in the coming days. During the investigation, it was ascertained that the report was a hoax and no explosive devices or information found to suggest he was going to partake in the threat. It was also found that he breached his SHPO by deleting internet history from a mobile device (which he was sentenced to serve three months concurrently in prison).
Detective Inspector Ed Slough said: “Whilst we ascertained swiftly that the threat of a bomb to Worcester Police Station was a hoax, there is no excuse for his actions and he has been sentenced accordingly.”
DI Slough made clear that reporting a false bomb threat will be treated extremely seriously and the wider implications of taking away integral resources for genuine requests. “Because of a swift and thorough investigation from our officers we located and arrested the individual and established that this was a hoax. A threat such as this could have diverted resources from genuine requests and struck fear into the community.”
He continued: “We treat all reports of this nature extremely seriously, and anyone caught committing such an offence will be dealt with robustly.”
