A Maltese university student admitted in court this afternoon that he had sent an e-mail to the administrators of Lourdes Sanctuary in France, threatening to bomb the place, using four bombs.

Francis Cassar, 26 of Naxxar, admitted to sending the e-mail on August 1 this year through a fake hotmail account.

He also admitted to misusing a computer.

Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna condemned him to a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, and fined him €200.

Informed sources said that Mr Cassar had visited Lourdes with his family earlier this year but felt frustrated that problems within his family had not been resolved.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.