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03/08/2005
Australian woman cleared in bomb text case
An Australian woman accused of sparking an airport bomb scare with a text message has been found not guilty of communicating false information with intent.
Angela Sceats, 19, from Sydney, was running late to catch a Ryanair flight to Dublin from Stansted airport last November, when she texted a friend telling her to contact the police and tell them that there was a bomb on the flight.
Fellow Australian Angela Forster, Ms Sceats flatmate, telephoned police, triggering a security alert at Stansted, which resulted in the cancellation of three flights.
Police eventually found Ms Sceats at the airport and, following an interview, concluded that there was no terrorist threat.
Ms Sceats, who was working as a waitress in London during a gap year from university, told Chelmsford Crown Court that the text messages were a joke and were not meant to be taken seriously.
The jury took 30 minutes to find her not guilty on Wednesday.
Ms Sceats was remanded in custody after being charged in November and spent three days in Holloway Prison in north London, before being released on bail.
She had been due to begin university in Australia in March, but had lost her place because she had to stay in the UK while awaiting trial.
The Judge, Recorder Rex Bryan said that Ms Sceats would have been sent to prison, if she had been found guilty. He said that the public “strongly disapproved” of those sorts of offences.
(KMcA/SP)
Angela Sceats, 19, from Sydney, was running late to catch a Ryanair flight to Dublin from Stansted airport last November, when she texted a friend telling her to contact the police and tell them that there was a bomb on the flight.
Fellow Australian Angela Forster, Ms Sceats flatmate, telephoned police, triggering a security alert at Stansted, which resulted in the cancellation of three flights.
Police eventually found Ms Sceats at the airport and, following an interview, concluded that there was no terrorist threat.
Ms Sceats, who was working as a waitress in London during a gap year from university, told Chelmsford Crown Court that the text messages were a joke and were not meant to be taken seriously.
The jury took 30 minutes to find her not guilty on Wednesday.
Ms Sceats was remanded in custody after being charged in November and spent three days in Holloway Prison in north London, before being released on bail.
She had been due to begin university in Australia in March, but had lost her place because she had to stay in the UK while awaiting trial.
The Judge, Recorder Rex Bryan said that Ms Sceats would have been sent to prison, if she had been found guilty. He said that the public “strongly disapproved” of those sorts of offences.
(KMcA/SP)
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