Teh One Who Knocks
05-23-2016, 01:55 PM
By Amie Gordon For Mailonline
http://i.imgur.com/AiPEWIw.jpg
An intoxicated man prompted a huge terror alert just one week after the attacks on Brussels, when he impersonated a police officer and claimed terrorists had planted two bombs at a university.
Joshua Berrabah, 24, phoned police and said two bombs had been found at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
A court heard he dialled 999 and pretended to be Jack Bauer from the television show 24, telling the operator he was from the counter terrorism unit and was the 'first responder on site'.
He sparked a huge police response, with firearms officers and a sniffer dog unit sent to the scene in the early hours on April 3.
Prosecutor Caroline Allison told Cambridge Crown Court: 'The defendant asked for Bill Buchanan or Karen Hayes - both also characters from the TV show.
'He said Britain was under terrorist attack, he was 'the first responder on site' and two bombs had been planted.
'He described one bomb as 'waste-like and set on its side' while another was a 'wallet type iPhone device'.
'He said he was being followed by seven people but couldn't give a description of them because if he turned round he would be shot.'
The call handler ended the call, which lasted three minutes and 44 seconds, but the force received another two calls from Berrabah who was said to be slurring his words.
In one call he gave his name as Josh and gave a description of himself.
When police arrived they discovered there were no bombs, but said Berrabah was 'drunk and disorderly' and attempting to climb over the fence into St Matthew's School near the university.
Berrabah, who was not a student at the university, was arrested over the bomb hoax and in a police interview admitted he had been drinking since 8pm.
Miss Allison said he was 'upset and embarrassed' when the hoax call was played back to him.
She added: 'This incident in the aftermath of serious terror attacks in Paris and Brussels not only tied up resources to answer genuine 999 calls but also deployed police unnecessarily.
'Luckily there was no need for road closures or public evacuation.'
Berrabah, from Linton in Cambridgeshire, admitted communicating false information about a bomb hoax.
Jacqueline Appleton, defending him, said the offence was a 'drunken act of stupidity'.
She urged Judge Jonathan Haworth to suspend Berrabah's prison sentence, arguing the defendant had no previous convictions and had 'his whole life ahead of him'.
Berrabah was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday.
After sentencing, the judge warned: 'It has to be clear that anyone that makes a hoax call of this nature to police will face a prison sentence.'
Berrabah was also ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work and pay £350 court costs.
http://i.imgur.com/AiPEWIw.jpg
An intoxicated man prompted a huge terror alert just one week after the attacks on Brussels, when he impersonated a police officer and claimed terrorists had planted two bombs at a university.
Joshua Berrabah, 24, phoned police and said two bombs had been found at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
A court heard he dialled 999 and pretended to be Jack Bauer from the television show 24, telling the operator he was from the counter terrorism unit and was the 'first responder on site'.
He sparked a huge police response, with firearms officers and a sniffer dog unit sent to the scene in the early hours on April 3.
Prosecutor Caroline Allison told Cambridge Crown Court: 'The defendant asked for Bill Buchanan or Karen Hayes - both also characters from the TV show.
'He said Britain was under terrorist attack, he was 'the first responder on site' and two bombs had been planted.
'He described one bomb as 'waste-like and set on its side' while another was a 'wallet type iPhone device'.
'He said he was being followed by seven people but couldn't give a description of them because if he turned round he would be shot.'
The call handler ended the call, which lasted three minutes and 44 seconds, but the force received another two calls from Berrabah who was said to be slurring his words.
In one call he gave his name as Josh and gave a description of himself.
When police arrived they discovered there were no bombs, but said Berrabah was 'drunk and disorderly' and attempting to climb over the fence into St Matthew's School near the university.
Berrabah, who was not a student at the university, was arrested over the bomb hoax and in a police interview admitted he had been drinking since 8pm.
Miss Allison said he was 'upset and embarrassed' when the hoax call was played back to him.
She added: 'This incident in the aftermath of serious terror attacks in Paris and Brussels not only tied up resources to answer genuine 999 calls but also deployed police unnecessarily.
'Luckily there was no need for road closures or public evacuation.'
Berrabah, from Linton in Cambridgeshire, admitted communicating false information about a bomb hoax.
Jacqueline Appleton, defending him, said the offence was a 'drunken act of stupidity'.
She urged Judge Jonathan Haworth to suspend Berrabah's prison sentence, arguing the defendant had no previous convictions and had 'his whole life ahead of him'.
Berrabah was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday.
After sentencing, the judge warned: 'It has to be clear that anyone that makes a hoax call of this nature to police will face a prison sentence.'
Berrabah was also ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work and pay £350 court costs.