'Worse for wear' worker phoned in bomb hoax in bid to get day off
An employee feeling the "worse for wear" phoned in a bomb hoax from his workplace in a bid to get the day off, a court was told.
Thomas Brady (29), with an address listed as Dunvale, Ballymena, but who is now said to be living in England, pleaded guilty to making a hoax bomb call.
The defendant was at Ballymena Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
A prosecutor said at 7.09 on December 17, 2024, police received a phone call on the 999 system with a male voice saying: "I've reason to believe there is a bomb in the grounds of Moore Concrete".
Location data showed the call was made from Moore Concrete in Ballymena.
The mobile number was linked to another man who had left his phone unattended in a workers' break room and police were satisfied the voice was not him.
CCTV showed Brady in the break room at the time the call was made and he subsequently pleaded guilty.
The prosecutor told the court she did not believe the premises had to be evacuated.
District Judge Nigel Broderick asked if the defence had noted the excuse the defendant had given to a probation officer.
The defence barrister said the excuse was "quite unbelievable".
The judge said the defendant had gone to work but was the "worse for wear" due to substance misuse and "didn't want to do a day's work and rather than call in sick he lifts the phone and rings in a bomb scare. Unbelievable to say the least".
Judge Broderick said Brady had shown some insight as the defendant described it as "the silliest, stupidest and most embarrassing thing I have ever done".
At the time he was abusing, particularly cocaine, the defence barrister said.
He said the defendant lost his job following the incident but now works in England.
The lawyer said Brady had been in rehab for over 40 weeks and he is now on top of substance abuse and is remorseful.
Judge Broderick said: "To say this was foolhardy is an understatement. Anyone living in this jurisdiction who makes a false call to police that there is an explosive device on the premises triggers significant concern, in the history of Northern Ireland".
He said the defendant, who had a clear record, had pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, shame and embarrassment, and "hopefully we can attribute this to a very foolish, isolated, incident".
The defendant was given a four months prison term, suspended for two years.