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Polish businessman to spend two years in jail for bomb threat joke

The businessman later confessed he had been drunk and what he said about the bomb was just a bad joke

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

KIEV, July 20 (Itar-Tass) - A court in Kiev has sentenced a Polish citizen to two years in jail for a practical joke on board a plane at Kiev’s airport.

“The citizen of Poland, 48, who scared his plane’s crew with a false bomb threat warning, has been sentenced to two-year imprisonment,” a district prosecutor’s office said.

Also, the court sustained some of the claims filed by the air carrier and the airport. The culprit will have to pay an equivalent of 9,000 dollars in compensation for material damage.

The incident occurred last September. A Polish businessman on board a Kiev-Katowice flight told a stewardess there was a bomb in his suitcase. The crew alerted the security service and police. The departure was delayed for four hours and all passengers were evacuated. The plane was searched but no bombs or explosive substances were found.

The businessman later confessed he had been drunk and what he said about the bomb was just a bad joke.

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