Man jailed after calling in bomb threat because he was running late for flight

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: “Islam anonymously called police 45 minutes before his easyJet booking from Gatwick was due to take off, warning: ‘Someone may have a bomb on the plane, you need to delay the flight’. “Luggage also had to be removed and re-screened, resulting in a three-hour delay at Britain’s second busiest airport on a bank holiday weekend.” The spokesman added that Islam was flying to Morocco to visit his fiance and made the hoax call after “transport difficulties” from Cricklewood, north London, to the airport. “The hoax initially succeeded in giving Islam time to check in but he was arrested at the gate after police traced him as the anonymous caller.” The flight eventually took off at 8.50pm with a new cabin crew which had to be swapped as the previous crew had exceeded their hours because of the delay. “The consequences were so serious that flight crew had to be evacuated, passengers rechecked and luggage removed – at a cost of three extra hours on the runway and £30,000 to the airline.” Since the incident, Islam has also been given a 42-month sentence for unconnected money-laundering offences.