Teenager pulled bomb hoax to ‘get a lift home’
Special branch called in after prankster claims to be in Isis
A drunk teenager told police he’d put a nail bomb in a hotel in an effort to get a lift home, a court heard.
George Brazil rang 999 four times on January 7, sparking a major police response which saw Special Branch teams and firearms officers descend on the Mercure Great Danes Hotel in Ashford Road, Hollingbourne.
Medway Magistrates’ Court heard the 19-year-old had been drinking and was intoxicated prior to the calls.
Prosecutor Alan Balneaves said: “He decided the best way to get back home [via police] was to make a bomb hoax.”
He said: “Kent Police received four 999 calls from a gentleman who said he was Mr Bomb.
“There were a number of calls. He said he had a nail bomb and said he was in Isis. He also gave his name, address and date of birth.”
Mr Balneaves said there had been no explosives involved but that the calls led to a huge
amount of police work, including the involvement of Special Branch.
“The police did not see it at the time as somebody who was drunk and making calls to get a lift home,” he added. “It was amateurish at best and foolish.”
Wayne Crowhurst, defending, said Brazil displayed a “lack of
maturity,” adding: “He’s also autistic which might explain the repeated phone calls.
“He had an argument with a young lady and he couldn’t get home so he thought he would phone the police.”
Brazil, from Faversham, pleaded guilty to telling police false information with the intention
of inducing them to believe a bomb was present at the hotel.
District Judge Stephen Leake imposed a six-month prison sentence, which he suspended for two years. He also ordered Brazil to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity days, as well as pay £85 costs and a £115 surcharge.