A French student who threatened to bomb a plane because he did not want his parents to visit him, was sentenced yesterday in Rennes to nine months in prison with a delay. According to French and Walloon media.

On 18 January, a 23-year-old young man made a serious mess of air traffic at Rennes-Dinard and Lyon-Saint-Exupery airports. The young man who was addicted to cannabis wanted to avoid a visit from his parents at all costs and therefore threatened to bomb if the plane landed in Rennes, in the north-west of France.

Delays

On EasyJet’s flight between Lyon and Rennes, there were a total of 150 people, including the parents of the 20s. He voiced the threat by telephone and used a voice distortion for this: “Listen carefully, the EasyJet plane from Lyon to Rennes will not leave, if not it will explode,” warned the student.

The threat was taken seriously and, as a precaution, the aircraft remained on the ground. About 12 other flights in Lyon were delayed due to the threat. A Lufthansa plane that was scheduled to land at Lyon airport was diverted to Geneva by the bomb threat.

Investigators quickly tracked the bomber through telephone investigation. It turned out to be a 23-year-old student in Rennes whose parents were on the EasyJet flight. The young man was arrested by the police at his home and proceeded to confessions.

According to the student, a visit by his parents that day was “impossible”, he declared yesterday before the correctional court in Rennes. “I had two free days and wanted to spend them at smoking joints. Besides, my place was a mess and they would have realized right away that I was addicted again.”

I had two free days and wanted to spend them at smoking joints 23-year-old bomber

Attempts to change his parents’ thoughts failed, after which the student seized on drastic means and sent his bomb threat out into the world. However, it was not effective: his parents took another flight to Rennes.

Detention and fines

“I didn’t think the switchboard would take my call seriously,” the student told the judge yesterday. He was sentenced to nine months in prison with a continuance. The young man must also pay a fine of EUR 1,900 and EUR 1,350 to the airports of Rennes and Lyon for the damage suffered.

The French public prosecutor’s office lifted especially heavy on the feelings of fear that the student, with his bomb threat, has caused to the affected passengers. “In times when terrorism is a reality, it cannot be,” it sounded.

The defendant said during the trial that he wants to stop using cannabis and resume his law studies to become a lawyer. The parents, with whom the boy now has a better connection, were not present at the hearing.