Bomb threat caller avoids court sittings but is jailed

A man who was found guilty of making two bomb threats from a phone booth to avoid having to attend court sittings was yesterday jailed for two years.

Carlos Falzon, 24, of Żejtun was found guilty of making two phone calls to police headquarters in Floriana from a phone booth opposite the law court in Valletta last December. Ironically, Magistrate Doreen Clarke handed down judgment on Mr Falzon’s case yesterday when another bomb threat stopped the courts for about an hour.

Police Inspector James Grech, prosecuting, said the two phone calls, which were recorded, were made on the days Mr Falzon had to appear in court.

Mr Falzon was also found guilty of filing a false report and misusing telecommunications equipment, committing a crime during the operative term of a suspended sentence, breaching two separate bail conditions and relapsing.

The court heard Mr Falzon threatened to make his girlfriend and cousin “eat their statements” when he heard they would testify he was not with them when the calls were made.

He was also fined €576.