British teenager jailed for school bomb hoaxes

George Duke-Cohan sent thousands of bomb threats to schools and triggered a scare at American Airlines security

George Duke-Cohan, a 19-year-old from Watford, has been jailed for three years after sending thousands of bomb hoax threats to institutions around the UK.

It was found that he sent the emails from his bedroom, leading to a transatlantic investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA). More than 1,700 schools were targeted with 400 needing to be evacuated in March.

The court originally released the teenager on bail under strict conditions that he refrain from using electronic devises of any kind, but was apprehended again and charged after calling in a hoax bomb threat to security at American Airlines. Duke-Cohan had pretended to be a worried father, claiming his daughter’s plane had been hijacked between California and the UK.

Presiding judge, Richard Foster, said: “The passengers and crew on that flight must have been terrified when their plane was taken to a quarantined area, and, apart from the financial cost, the onward travelling plans and connecting flights would have been in disarray.”

Some of  the other emails were sent to special needs schools. They warned of impending explosions, saying things like: “The bomb is set to go off in three hours’ time if you do not send 5,000 dollars USD.

“If you do not send the money, we will blow up the device.

“If you try to call the cops we will blow up the device on the spot. Any attempt at defusing it yourself will cause it to explode.”

Duke-Cohan pleaded guilty at the Luton Crown Court in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats.

Judge Foster accused him of knowing fully the repercussions that his threats could have: “You knew exactly what you were doing and why you were doing it, and you knew full well the havoc that would follow.

“You were playing a game for your own perverted sense of fun in full knowledge of the consequences.”

“The scale of what you did was enormous.”

For the purposes of the sentencing it was accepted by the judge that Duke-Cohan has autism spectrum disorder.