A retired Hongkonger was sentenced to 120 hours of community service today for making a bomb hoax to stop his wife from flying to South Africa.
Maadd Kikabhoy, 64, contacted police in the early hours of Mar. 22 from a phone booth in Wan Chai. He had been drinking in the area, and wanted to stop his wife from leaving the country with her friends.
It is understood that he said “South Africa 287 has a bomb” in Cantonese, SCMP reports.
Last month, the defendant admitted to one count of communicating false information as to the existence of bomb.
Magistrate June Cheung stressed the serious of the offence by saying that the defendant had caused “grave inconvenience” to the public.
A police officer, who was sent to investigate the phone booth during the call, noted that Kikabhoy was acting suspiciously.
Upon arrest, Kikabhoy confessed under caution that he had made the call as he missed his wife. His wife was on the flight to Johannesburg at the time, which had not been affected.
The defence argued that Kikabhoy acted “out of a momentary lapse of rational thinking”. His report indicated that he struggled to adjust to retirement, but that he was a “loving husband and caring father”.
The magistrate noted that community service might help Kikabhoy adjust to retirement as it would broaden his horizons.
Under the Public Order Ordinance, making a false bomb threat is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment on summary conviction, or a HKD150,000 fine and five years’ imprisonment on conviction.
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