Man guilty of arena bomb hoax threat
A MAN rang police and said a bomb would ‘go off in 22 minutes’ at Manchester Arena after being turned away from a show at the venue.
Scott Millett caused a partial evacuation of the venue - where Salman Abedi killed 22 people in a terrorist atrocity last May - after security guards turned him away.
Police and ambulance rushed to the Arena on Sunday after Millett made a series of disturbing calls to 999.
A metal plate in Millett’s kneecap had set off a metal detector on entry to the Fast And Furious Live event at the Manchester Arena. He rang police to complain, before deciding to make the hoax calls.
Now he has appeared before magistrates who heard that he ‘has issues.’ Locking him up on remand until sentence, after he admitted communicating false informa- tion, a judge said his offences were ‘particularly sensitive for Manchester’ as the anniversary of the bomb approached.
In the first call to 999, Millett said: “I’m in the Arena, there’s a weird object in the toilets.”
He then made a second call to police, saying: “I want you to take the call very seriously, this is no joke, I understand the bomb is going to go off in 22 minutes from now.”
He then made another call to 999 saying: “This is no laughing matter, a bomb will go off, this is the only information I’m required to give you.” Prosecuting, Danielle Allanson told the court that emergency services were scrambled to the scene due to the seriousness of the threats and the building was partly evacuated until police realised what had happened. The calls were then traced back to him, the court heard. The 29-year-old, of Renshaw Street, Eccles, has 13 previous convictions for 18 offences, the court heard, including for possession of a bladed article and aggravated vehicle taking. Defending, Damian Mularky said: “We have a man who clearly has issues.” He has previously been referred to Cromwell House, a community mental health centre in Eccles, Salford, the court heard. He has not been ‘fully diagnosed,’ Mr Mularky said, but he is someone who is ‘not secure in himself’ and is ‘impulsive.’ Mr Mularky said the calls were impulsive and made quickly one after the other, proving they were ‘not deliberate, calculated actions.’ He was not even calculated enough to hide his number, he added. Judge Samuel Goozée slammed the threats, ‘at a time when this country was in a high state of security following recent events.’ He said: “It’s particularly sensitive for Manchester as it approaches a year since its own offence.” Millett was remanded in custody and is due to appear for sentence at Manchester Crown Court on May 16. Damian Mularky