Deaf man admits to making 107 hoax bomb reports
A DEAF man has admitted carrying out a campaign of bomb hoaxes against targets in the US, Canada and the UK, including the Houses of Parliament, the Super Bowl and dozens of schools.
Andreas Dowling, 24, admitted 30 counts of communicating false information with intent between October 2014 and February 2016, the majority of which were against schools.
Bristol Crown Court heard that one of the charges relates to “racially aggravated” bomb threats made against Jewish schools.
Dowling also pleaded guilty to a single charge of “encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence believing it would be committed” under the Protection of Children Act 1978.
This related to him threatening to “ruin the life” of a 17-year-old girl in the United States unless she sent him nude photographs of herself.
The defendant was arrested in June after an investigation by counter ter- rorism police officers. He was assisted in entering his pleas from the dock by a lip speaker.
Simon Laws QC, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court that the 30 charges encompassed a total of 107 incidents of bomb hoaxes. In a previous hearing at the Old Bailey, Mr Laws said the hoaxes caused “disruption and panic” in the countries targeted and were made both online and by telephone.
Dowling, of Carew Terrace, in Torpoint, Cornwall, was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.