Bomb hoaxer wanted to avoid going to court
ARUNCORN decorator who made a bomb hoax phone call to a court to avoid appearing in the dock was caught after police discovered he had used his business phone number to make the threat.
Jeffrey Thomas Bramwell, 37, last living at Brennan Lodge on Albert Road in Widnes but who had previously operated his business in and around Runcorn, told staff member Colin Taylor: “Is this Warrington magistrates’ court?
“My mate has been found guilty this morning and he’s on his way back with an explosive device.
“I’m going to try to stop him but you better evacuated the building.”
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, said Bramwell made the call at about 1.50pm on April 15, just five minutes after Bramwell had been due to surrender to bail in connection with breaching a restraining order.
Staff at Warrington Combined Court, where the magistrates hearings take place, did not evacuate the building but were extra vigilant throughout the afternoon.
They alerted the police, who made phone record enquiries and discovered
● that the phone number used was the number listed on Bramwell’s Facebook profile advertising his services as a painter and decorator.
Phone mast cell site data established that the phone had been used to make the call via a phone mast in the vicinity of Sankey Way in Warrington.
Bramwell initially denied the offence but gradually made increasing admissions as police confronted him with the evidence.
He later pleaded guilty to communicating false information to make someone believe an explosive device was present, on the grounds that he probably did make the call but that he could not remember due to his mental health.
Mr Blasbery told the court that Bramwell had 16 previous convictions for 29 offences including two for theft, resisting arrest, robbery in 1999 and robbery in 2001.
Bramwell, who appeared via video link from prison for the hearing, piped up several times during the hearing and said he had not committed any crimes for 18 years.
The court heard there were no Sentencing Council guidelines for a bomb hoax but that similar cases had resulted in a six-month suspended sentence and an 18-month immediate prison sentence, with Bramwell’s case judged to be more similar to the more severe punishment.
Mark Lever, defending Bramwell, argued mitigation for his guilty plea and asked the judge to take into account that he had already served a month over breaching the restraining order that was imposed for harassment.
He added that Bramwell was a working man, telling the court: “He can normally find work in and around the Runcorn area and usually does work, and it’s something I’ve met Mr Bramwell on a few occasions and he’s usually been working.”
Recorder Mark Ainsworth, presiding, sentenced Bramwell to five months in prison.
During his sentencing remarks, the judge said: “It’s clear you wanted the court evacuated because you were due to appear before the court that day,
“The court wasn’t evacuated and the court staff were particularly vigilant that afternoon and the matter was reported to the police.”
He added: “The courts obviously take a very serious view of any one who engage in such behaviour because such behaviour strikes at the heart of business undertaken by the courts.
“It causes a great deal of potential disruption and certainly a great deal of anxiety among the people working and visiting the court building.”