Carlisle Remembrance Day hoaxer sentenced

The court heard Heaney told an army cadet worker a bag he had abandoned contained a bomb

A man who made a hoax bomb threat after leaving a bag on a bench near Carlisle's cenotaph on Remembrance Day has been given a suspended jail term.

Benjamin Heaney, from Burgh-by-Sands admitted a charge of communicating false information with intent.

The court heard minutes after the Remembrance Day silence was held in the Greenmarket, Heaney, 42, left a bag on seat and walked away.

When he was told he had left it, Heaney twice replied "it's a bomb".

Carlisle Crown Court heard how Paul Newton-Kerr, an army cadet administrative assistant, ran up to Heaney to tell him about the black bag after noticing he had left it behind.

He described how Heaney walked away "briskly" and "at pace" through the pedestrianised city centre, where members of the public, veterans and schoolchildren had gathered for the remembrance service on 11 November 2020.

Mr Newton-Kerr said he was left in shock as Heaney twice replied: "It's a bomb."

When he asked again Heaney replied: "It's a camera. Give it to the kids."

Police were called and the area was cordoned off.

'Considerable disruption'

A specialist officer was contacted but when Heaney returned to the area he confirmed the bag contained only a camera and no further police action was required.

Judge Simon Medland QC heard Heaney had been drinking in the street before the hoax and there was a "significant psychiatric background".

The judge suspended an 18-month jail term for two years and told Heaney: "You said at a very sensitive time in the annual calendar that it was a bomb, and that had to be taken seriously and caused very considerable disruption to people who were only trying to undertake a most serious and important matter of public remembrance."