Hoax call jail sentence confirmed

The criminal court of appeal turned down an appeal filed by a man who was imprisoned for nine months after being found guilty of making a hoax phone call that there was a bomb at Malta International Airport just hours after the terrorist attacks on America on September 11.

The appeals court, presided by Mr Justice Joe Galea Debono said that considering the inconvenience, disruption and costs the hoax phone call caused, not to mention the damage done to the tourist industry, the sentence handed by the Magistrate's court was not disproportionate to the crime.

Peter Paul Vella, 52, of Luqa, was found guilty last January by Magistrate Noel Cuschieri.

The appeals court noted that WPC Dorothy Busuttil, stationed at the control room of the police headquarters, received a phone call on number 191, in which a male voice said "there is another bomb at the airport".

The court noted that the ID caller registered that the call was made from a mobile phone number which belonged to the accused.

As a result of the call, a complex operation involving the Armed Forces was undertaken at the airport and luggage that had been loaded on aircraft was unloaded to be screened, checks were made on aircraft as well as in all public areas. All hand luggage was searched, instead of 10 per cent as is usually done, the court noted.

The court noted that security checks were made on all hand luggage, instead of random searches. "As a result of this, a substantial inconvenience was caused at the airport," the court noted.

The court noted that the accused, in a statement to the police, said he made the call accidentally, not as a joke. He argued he had accidentally hit his phone and whoever answered the call must have heard him say "look they made a bomb".

When testifying in court, the accused said he always keyed in 199 on his mobile phone so that if something happened, he could phone immediately. A call was made accidentally and whoever answered must have heard him say "misshom jaghmlu bomba l-airport" as he was speaking to his son while seeing what had happened in America.

The appeals court said the accused had changed his version a number of times and the excuses brought were not credible.

Considering the inconvenience and damage the hoax call had done and the fact that the accused was a relapser, the appeals court said, it did not think the sentence was too harsh, as Vella had pleaded in the appeal.

Inspector David Saliba prosecuted.

Dr Anglu Farrugia appeared for the accused.