Catamaran bomb threat caller gets 'suspended sentence'
A 26 year-old man from Mqabba was this morning given a six month jail term, suspended for a year, after he admitted to have fabricated a bomb threat that led to a four hour delay in the departure of a Virtu’ Ferries catamaran from Pozzallo.
28 January 2011, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
1 min read
Aaron Sant was arrested by the police in just under three hours last Wednesday night, after they managed to trace the anonymous phone call to a cell phone in his possession.
The investigations revealed that the man made the bomb threat in a bid to delay the departure of the ‘Jean de La Valette’ from Pozzallo, after he received a call fromhis two brothers who were going to be late to embark on the ferry.
The phone call, which was made to the police headquarters, triggered an immediate alert that was relayed from Malta Interpol to Rome Interpol, that in turn communicated the details of the threat to the authorities in Pozzallo.
160 passengers were immediately evacuated from the catamaran, while a search was conducted on board.
As Virtu’ Ferries was prepared to send another catamaran from Malta to pick up the stranded passengers, the Maltese police had already arrested the caller, and informed their Italian counterparts to stand-down as it was confirmed that the call was a hoax.
The ‘Jean de La Valette’ was cleared to leave Pozzallo harbour late at night and reached the Grand Harbour in Valletta at 04:15am of yesterday.
A spokesman for Virtu Ferries praised the efficiency of the Maltese police and commended their immediate action that led to the arrest of the person who made the hoax.
