A bomb hoaxer who told police he wanted to make illegal immigrants “go boom” before being found with a fake explosive in his kitchen cupboard has been jailed. Sean McCrystal, 61, of Lough Court, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to communicating false information with intent and was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Newcastle Crown Court.
Threats sent to police
On March 26 this year, McCrystal sent a number of messages to Northumbria Police via Facebook, including one which included the phrase “let's see how boom wakes you up”. When asked what he needed help with, he said to forget it and made reference to “invaders”.
Police attended his home and he appeared agitated and told them he hated the government and hated “invaders” who were coming into the country and said he “wanted to make them go boom”. McCrystal then went into his kitchen and pulled from a cupboard “something that had the appearance of an improvised explosive device”.
Fake device found
He put it on the floor in front of the PC who had gone to speak to him and said: “I mean what I say. I want them to go boom.” McCrystal was taken into custody and another officer attended at the address to seize the device. It consisted of a long tube jam-packed with nails, with a clock, wires and styrofoam.
He had also sent an image of it to an associate with a message saying: “See if this will kill lots of invaders. I'm going to blow up invaders' hotels. I can't manage to get the device together. You have any grenades for me mate.”
Hate crime and sentencing
Claire Anderson, prosecuting, said: “The offending was motivated, at least in part, with hostility to others based on their race. The prosecution submit this was a hate crime.” Judge Tim Gittins sentenced McCrystal to 12 months in prison but said he is likely to be released soon due to the time he has served on remand.
The judge told him: “Over several hours you were sending messages that clearly intended a threat to bomb immigrants, who you branded invaders. It was a repeated threat and something you continued with when officers were sent to deal with your conduct.”
The judge said the device was a “fairly amateurish effort but sufficient, no doubt, to seriously alarm the officer who had no idea what he was going to deal with”. He added: “The work you had put in demonstrates some persistence and determination to put together this makeshift device. You sent an image of that to someone you believed was a likeminded associate, while asking, in apparent seriousness, if that person had any grenades you could use.”
“It was relatively amateurish and the threats were not in the public domain but this was activity by you that persisted for some hours and occurred at a time of increased public tension in relation to immigration issues. There was a significant waste of police time and public money in dealing with you. To state the obvious, using bombs or the threat of bombs, even in hoax form, as a method of crying for help or objecting to immigrants is too serious for anything else other than immediate custody.”
Defence and background
Glenn Gatland, defending, said: “The defendant was needing care and support at the time of this offending and he had carers going in twice daily and didn't have capacity over his finances. The background appears to be that he was upset about events he saw on the TV news, with people coming in claiming benefits and housing and he was struggling to get the help he needed. He had to go to the Samaritans and tried to get help with adult social care and his family to be able to get the help he needed.”
“He was wanting help but he felt very angry when he watched the news and saw others, whatever their background, were coming into the country getting help and benefits he couldn't possibly get. That led to his frustration and this outburst of going through making a hoax device. There's no racist comment, he calls them invaders, so he was describing anyone who comes to the country without paperwork and who are illegal immigrants.”
Mr Gatland added that McCrystal had alcohol dependence syndrome but has made good progress in prison and was being considered for a role as a mentor for other inmates. He added that no premises had to be evacuated and McCrystal used his own account to contact police.
