A man has been jailed for making a hoax bomb call to Gatwick Airport in an attempt to catch his flight to the USA.  

Jacob Meir Abdellak was running late for the Norwegian flight from Gatwick to Los Angeles so he decided to contact the police to report the threat.  The anonymous call was received just eight minutes before the flight was due to depart. A full re-screening meant take off was delayed by 90 minutes.  The telephone number used to make the call was the same as the number linked to his booking. The 47 year old librarian from Hackney was arrested at Gatwick on 22nd May as he attempted to board another flight.  

He was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £140.