Man in court accused of Swansea ‘bomb hoax’
A MAN has appeared in court accused of leaving a fake bomb in a shopping centre two days after the Manchester terrorist attack.
Richard Punchard, 21, is accused of placing a homemade device – a black jewellery box with wires coming out of it – under a bench in Swansea’s Quadrant Shopping Centre, Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday.
The allegation relates to an incident that sparked the evacuation of the shopping centre on Wednesday afternoon.
The court heard a cleaner found the box under a bench outside Debenhams at around 2pm and alerted security staff who in turn raised the alarm with armed police officers.
Members of the public were asked to leave the area immediately and a bomb disposal team attended.
Punchard, of Ozanam Court, Portmead, Swansea, who is accused of placing a homemade device in the shopping centre with the intention that it would cause others to believe it was likely to ignite or explode, entered no plea to the allegation.
The court heard Punchard, who appeared in court wearing a blue-and-white patterned T-shirt and black-rimmed spectacles, was interested in Egyptology and had recently started volunteering in Swansea University’s museum.
Prosecutor Sharon Anderson added: “This event has taken place on the 24th, obviously it was two days after what happened in Manchester and security has obviously been heightened to critical.”
Magistrates declined jurisdiction in the case and Punchard, who was remanded in custody, was committed to Swansea Crown Court for a hearing on June 26.