Bomb Hoaxer Jailed

Neil Bartlet, 28, was jailed for four years for causing panic with a series of hoax calls made from a Rustington phone box.

Chichester Crown Court heard Bartlet, of Bewley Road, called companies with links to animal testing laboratory Huntington Life Sciences and other companies he felt were harming animals or the environment.

Bartlet, unemployed, had pleaded guilty to six counts and appeared before Judge Anthony Thorpe for sentence.

The judge praised the police investigation, including a tiny surveillance camera, which caught Bartlet, and said he would pass details on to Sussex Chief Constable Ken Jones and Home Secretary David Blunkett.

Harry Oliver, prosecuting, said Bartlett phoned pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline on April 9 last year and claimed an incendiary device had been planted at its offices.

He then made hoax calls to drugs firm Novartis on April 18 and to bank Morgan Stanley. Bartlet claimed he had picked the companies out due to their alleged connections to Huntington Life Sciences.

On July 25, he called Exxon Mobil, saying they were being targeted for polluting the planet. But it was Bartlet's call to oil giant Shell's building near Waterloo railway station in London on August 13 which caused the most chaos, the court was told.

The court was played a recording of Bartlet's message to Shell reception staff. He said: "Listen carefully. The Animal Liberation Front has planted two incendiary devices in the air vents of the men's toilets. They will ignite in one hour. This is because you support Huntington Life Sciences."

Mr Oliver said police evacuated the Shell offices, closed surrounding streets and evacuated 400 passengers on the nearby London Eye,

costing the tourist attraction 4,900.

Waterloo Bridge was closed in one direction and police were planning to close both Waterloo rail and tube stations before they discovered the alert was a hoax.

Bartlet's last call was to Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council on August 21. He had read a news report that the council planned to cull seagulls.

The town centre was completely closed down following the call, the court heard.

Mr Oliver said the police investigation led to a surveillance operation to catch Bartlet.

The hoax calls were traced to a phone box in Rustington, and a tiny camera was installed which filmed Bartlet arriving on a mountain bike and making the calls.

Michelle Strange, in mitigation, said Bartlet had subscribed to a number of periodicals dealing with alleged animal abuse by high profile companies but had not joined any activist groups.

He had never been to any demonstrations and was not a member of any animal rights organisations.

Ms Strange said: "He accepts he is here because of his opinions about animal rights issues and takes full responsibility. He did not realise how much disruption he caused. He had no idea of the number of people's lives that would be interrupted.

"He thought it was a matter between himself and the companies."

Jailing Bartlet, Judge Thorpe said: "Offences of this nature cause great concern to the public, particularly in the light of terrorist attacks that are all too common . . . these days all over the world.

"Clearly, a considerable amount of police time and effort was expended in tracking you down, by hard work and via surveillance of that telephone kiosk," said the judge.

"The police are to be highly commended for their professional and thorough approach to this problem, which can really be likened to searching for a needle in a haystack," said Judge Thorpe.

He said the call to Shell must have caused "havoc" and added: "The courts have a duty to protect the public, particularly from acts tending to induce fear and panic.

"The fact that you were motivated for compassion for animals and may have been depressed are factors that I have considered.

"I am bound to put the safety of the public ahead of any possible treatment that you may later receive," said Judge Thorpe.