A "vindictive" pensioner who left a bogus bomb at his dentist in a revenge attack for apparently being overcharged was given a suspended jail term and banned from the surgery for life yesterday.

Peter McShane, 84, of Pembroke Dock, west Wales, threaded wires through a box, placed a ticking clock inside and carried it to his local dental surgery. The large oblong box, weighed down by a brick, triggered a major police operation when it was discovered on February 15.

Homes surrounding the Bush Street dental surgery in Pembroke Dock were evacuated and the box was destroyed in a controlled explosion. Mr McShane was living in Ettrick House, in nearby Laws Street, at the time and was among those evacuated when the police were called. Despite witnessing the scale of the action taken by the authorities Mr McShane failed to tell the police the bomb was bogus.

The hoax was the climax of a catalogue of attacks on the dental surgery triggered by a visit in October 2007 when he was charged £187.

Despite eventually being refunded the full amount, anger at what he believed was an unreasonable rate prompted a series of attacks. Mr McShane was sentenced to 34 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court yesterday, Judge Keith Thomas told him he was only spared jail because of his advanced age and previous clean character.

Mr Thomas also imposed a restraining order prohibiting Mr McShane from attending the dental surgery for an indefinite period. The judge also imposed a three-month curfew order on Mr McShane operating during the hours of darkness.

Mr McShane admitted making the bogus bomb and placing it on the surgery's steps when he appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court last month. He admitted seven other charges ranging from criminal damage against the premises of dentist Michael Williams and a handful of neighbours.

Mr McShane also pleaded guilty to a single charge of burglary on a flat in 2000 in the complex he owned. In a series of criminal damage offences against the surgery, Mr McShane had used super-glue to jam the surgery door locks. He had also ripped a name plaque off a wall and stole it and daubed paint on the building.

Mr McShane said the hoax bomb was an attempt to get his own back and frighten the dentist into thinking it was a bomb.