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This article was published 11/9/2015 (1837 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He wanted to be seen as a hero in the eyes of his estranged girlfriend and her family. Instead, a Winnipeg engineering student has earned himself a one-way ticket out of Canada for designing a terrorist hoax that backfired.

Kalidh Mohamed Siddique, 27, pleaded guilty Friday to mischief in a case that had federal officials on high alert. He was given a $3,500 fine and criminal record which means he will be deported immediately to his native India.

"I don’t think it is lost on anyone that we are appearing here on Sept. 11," Crown attorney Adam Bergen told court as he began reciting the bizarre facts of the case.

Siddique came to Canada seven years ago on a student visa and was excelling at the University of Manitoba when things went off the rails in 2011, court was told. His two-year relationship with his girlfriend ended, and he was charged with assaulting her. His grades plunged and he began suffering from depression.

Siddique came up with a plan he thought would put him back in good standing with the woman. In March 2012, he called 911 from the university and claimed he’d just overheard a plot to bring down an airplane.

Siddique told investigators he was in the washroom when two unknown men began talking about bombing a specific Air Canada flight that was set to leave Toronto, headed for Winnipeg, later that day. He described the two men as speaking in both English and then a foreign language he couldn’t understand. He said he never got a look at their faces.

"He said he knew they were not Muslim because he was a Muslim. How he could tell their religion from their voices is probably some of what first twigged the police suspicions," Bergen said Friday.

Police sprang into action and notified Peel Regional Police and Transport Canada. The specific aircraft was ordered to remain on the runway at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. None of the passengers was told the reason for the delay, which lasted more than an hour and cost the airline more than $7,000 in related expenses.

"This was a time-sensitive, evolving type of investigation. They were reacting very much to a number of pressures," said Bergen.

Siddique’s plan crumbled when police obtained surveillance video of the exterior of the washroom where he claimed to have overheard the bombing plot. It showed Siddique going in and coming out — with the two men he claimed to have overheard nowhere in sight.

"Eventually, he admitted more or less that it wasn’t true," said Bergen. Siddique revealed his motive — his ex-girlfriend he had allegedly assaulted was on the flight, and he wanted to be the one to "save" her from the perceived threat.

"Somehow the accused thought this would endear him to the victim and her family. That he could somehow prove to them he was a good guy worthy of being her partner," said Bergen.

Defence lawyer Wendy Martin-White told court Friday Siddique "just wasn’t himself" at the time of the incident, due to the many stresses in his life.

"The call was a pretty muddled attempt to appear heroic," she said. "It was ill-conceived and nonsensical... by a person who was at a very low point in his life."

Bergen said such a crime would typically call for a substantive sentence, including custody. But he said lawyers struck a joint recommendation for a lighter penalty since Siddique will be deported.

"He has loved his time in Canada and wanted to make it his home," said Martin-White. "This has been a shameful experience for him."

Siddique had been active in the university community, including being part of the Muslim students association, court was told.

He offered a brief apology in court while his ex-girlfriend sat in the public gallery. The woman is now married to another man and living in Ontario, but wanted to show her support for him despite all they’ve been through, his lawyer said. The assault charge involving her is being dropped.

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