Chef jailed over bomb hoax call

Kevin Flynn made the false allegations after his marriage broke up
12 April 2012

A chef who made a hoax phone call claiming his estranged wife was about to board a transatlantic flight with a bomb has been jailed for 12 months.

Kevin Flynn, 31, told police that the device was being taken on a New York-bound aircraft by Kerensa Flynn at either Heathrow or Gatwick airport.

He made the anonymous call from a phone box in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, on July 31 after the couple had decided to end their four-year marriage and she was to fly home to the United States.

Prosecutor Ed Hand told Chichester Crown Court: "His motivation was to get her stopped and humiliated."

Flynn agreed to give her time to pack her things, but when he returned found she had damaged some of his belongings, the court heard. He called police from their home, before making the hoax 999 call from a phone box some hours later.

A transcript of the brief call was read out in which he told the operator: "I'm only going to say this once, it's an anonymous call. There's a Kerensa Flynn or Kerensa Romara-MacMahan currently boarding at Heathrow or Gatwick with a bomb in her bag."

The court heard that police quickly made the connection with Flynn's earlier call about his wife from his home and officers were dispatched to his address in Bognor. Meanwhile officers from Sussex Police and the Met Police were sent to Gatwick and Heathrow airports where Ms Flynn was intercepted.

During mitigation, Gareth Morgan, for the defence, said that Flynn's marriage woes had led to problems with alcohol and he had also been badly affected by witnessing the death of his best friend's father in the months leading up to the incident.

Judge William Wood QC said he gave Flynn credit for having pleaded guilty at the first opportunity but went on: "I take the view that this kind of behaviour in which police resources may have to be wasted to prevent any threat coming to fruition and when there is a chance of large-scale disruption or evacuation of buildings or aeroplanes and airports, this class of misconduct is so serious there is no possibility to do anything but impose an immediate custodial sentence."

Wearing a short-sleeved checked shirt, Flynn, of Ashburnham Close, Durrington, looked shocked as the one-year sentence was passed.

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