That's blown it: Angry boss walks through police cordon and grabs 'bomb' to prove it's just bag of old clothes (and is arrested under the Terrorism Act)



Arrest: James Mullan is led away by police last month after he attempted to defuse a bomb scare by opening two suspect packages

A businessman has been charged under the Terrorism Act after he broke through a police cordon and tipped open two suspect packages to prove they were harmless.

James Mullan ducked under police tape and emptied old clothes and shoes from bags left in Ipswich town centre after become frustrated by the lengthy wait for a bomb scare to be resolved.

Mullan, a watch repairman, was given a conditional discharge at South East Suffolk magistrates' court after his 'reckless' behaviour last month.



Police closed the market on the Cornhill in Ipswich and evacuated nearby buildings and a market after the bags were found abandoned at 2.30pm on November 17.

Mullan, of Kesgrave, Suffolk, became upset about the closure continuing while police waited for an Army bomb disposal team to arrive from Colchester, Essex.

And at 5.10pm he took the law into his own hands and dodged around police to open the bags in a council customer service centre beside the town hall.

The 62-year-old was arrested when he emerged from the office and told police that the bags were harmless.

The watch repairman said he had become frustrated by a perceived lack of police activity during the drama and wanted to resolve the situation himself.

The court heard how a number of market traders had also become frustrated because they were losing trade.



Jeremy Kendall, defending Mullan, said: 'The defendant knew from previous experience that a bomb disposal team would have to come up from Colchester and he wanted to act sooner.

'He went through the cordon and into the building and opened the bags which were full of clothes and shoes.

'What he did was stupid,' Mr Kendall admitted. 'Had the device been explosive then he would clearly have endangered his own safety. But he felt there was an unexplained delay and wanted to help, not hinder.



'Ironically, he did help the operation by revealing there was nothing explosive there.'

Mullan admitted a charge of breaking through a police cordon, an offence under Section 36 (2) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

District Judge David Cooper gave him a conditional discharge for a year and ordered him to pay (£85 costs.

Judge Cooper told him: 'You were reckless and impatient. As an upstanding member of the community you must abide by police cordons.'



The court heard how police reopened the area to the public at 5.30pm after Mullan's actions proved the rucksack and holdall did not contain explosives.



Mistake: James Mullan, who has been given a conditional discharge after being charged under the Terrorism Act, said he did not realise he had broken the law

Mullan later insisted that he did not realise he was breaking the law when he took matters into his own hands.



'If I had known I was breaking the law I would not have done what I did. would not do it again, but I was just trying to help' he stressed.



'As soon as the cordon went up, business is dead for lots of people in Ipswich. All the market traders had to pack up and leave the market.



'I just thought someone must have put the bags down and forgotten about them. I thought I was doing everyone a favour by just having a quick look.



'My intentions were 100 per cent good. In hindsight, with 20-20 vision my motive was to help everybody.'