Court bomb hoaxer fined €10,000

36-year-old Ahmad Yassine, a Libyan man who has lived in Malta since the age of 4, has been fined €10,000 and ordered to perform 280 hours of community work for calling in a hoax bomb threat at the courts last month.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud had heard how technical information gathered from mobile telephony networks had led police to identify Yassine as the culprit. It emerged that he was due to have a sitting in marital separation proceedings on the 16th November.

Premeditation was evident, noted the court as evidence showed that the Libyan had first called GO to be given the number for court's switchboard before buying another SIM card, from which he placed the offending phone-call.

The court highlighted the disruption caused by the hoax, saying that 400 people- employees, the judiciary, lawyers, prosecutors and the general public had to vacate the building for 2 hours until it was declared safe. The entire procedure came at a cost of €8,780 to the taxpayer.

Yassine pleaded guilty and was fined €10,000 and ordered to perform 280 hours of community service.
Lawyers Keith Borg and Carlos Bugeja were defence counsel. Police Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee prosecuted.