A woman who made a bomb hoax about a mosque in the Lancashire town of Brierfield has avoided prison.
The Lancashire Telegraph reported that 60-year-old Terry Chester received a one-year prison sentence, suspended for 24 months at Blackburn Magistrates Court last week (April 6).
Ms Chester put a handwritten note through her neighbour’s door that read “Bomb. Mosque. Sackville Street. Also man has gun on Guildford Street. Police.”
Terry Chester did not seek to alert the police, having her version of events roundly dismissed by the courts last month.
Neighbour, Saiqa Bibi, alerted the authorities after discovering the note, which referred to the Jamia Mosque Sultania, the Lancashire Telegraph added.
LancsLive reported that Chester had historical convictions for arson and other public order offences and was guilty of a malicious communications offence by putting a person in fear of their safety, as the magistrates showed CCTV footage of Chester bending down to put the note through Ms Bibi’s door.
The perpetrator’s intent (whether indecent or grossly offensive, contains threats or false information) is to cause distress or anxiety. The offence occurs upon sending the communication.
Guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service makes clear that bomb hoaxes often fall under Wasting Police Time – a section 5(2) offence under the Criminal Law Act 1967, improper use of Public Electronic Communications Networks – a section 127 offence under the Communications Act 2003, or finally, a section 51 offence that contravenes the Criminal Law Act 1977.
The remorseless Chester must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work, £513.80 for compensating police costs, a further £500 to the prosecution, and £187 fee to the courts, the Lancashire Telegraph added.