Eiffel Tower hoaxer jailed

A hoaxer whose threat of an al Qaeda attack forced police to evacuate 4,000 tourists from the Eiffel Tower was jailed for 10 months by a Paris court yesterday. The court suspended nine months of the sentence which means Stephane Leroux will be released...

A hoaxer whose threat of an al Qaeda attack forced police to evacuate 4,000 tourists from the Eiffel Tower was jailed for 10 months by a Paris court yesterday.

The court suspended nine months of the sentence which means Stephane Leroux will be released shortly. Prosecutors had demanded a two-year term, with 22 months suspended.

Leroux was ordered to pay €12,000 in damages to the Eiffel Tower's operators and its owners, the City of Paris. He blamed his act on the absence of his psychoanalyst during the summer holidays.

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