Rail commuter who sent bomb threat ‘wanted to get own back for delays’

A SOUTHERN Rail commuter is in court after threatening to bomb the company’s headquarters in frustration at constant delays, a court heard.

David Davies, 37, branded rail bosses “incompetent” and “clueless” in an email after having his daily commute from Croydon to central London delayed. When questioned by police he admitted sending the email last November, Blackfriars Crown Court heard, but said he was frustrated by the poor service and wanted to get his own back for the delays.

In the weeks leading up to the bomb threat, Davies, a former City of London School pupil and University College London graduate, allegedly sent the company another email after his train was cancelled which read: “I’m being deadly serious, go ------- die.” Three weeks later, the court heard he sent a separate email saying he hoped the chief executive died.

Andrew Hope, prosecuting, said: “The case is that on November 10 last year a member of staff working in the customer relations department reviewed an email that was sent just after 11am. It read ‘I hope you call the police. This is not a hoax. I will ------- bomb your ------- HQ to ------- smithereens’.”

Davies told the court he didn’t believe the email would be taken seriously. Asked why he sent it Davies, who works in financial services, told the jury: “Because I wanted to vent my frustration, not expecting the email to be read or expecting to get a response. It was blowing off some steam. I had reached boiling point, after a long period of time, because of the frustration and pressure that had grown.” Davies denies the single count of perpetrating a bomb hoax. The trial continues.