Isis: Islamic State bomb threat hoaxer Colin Gibson jailed in Newcastle

A man pretending to be a member of Islamic State (Isis) who rang Newcastle police with bomb threats has been jailed.

Colin Gibson, 26, made four late-night phone calls to police on 19 January claiming to be a member of the terrorist organisation and said there were bombs in Newcastle Central Station, reports the Chronicle. The calls prompted officers to search the building but no explosives were found.

Gibson, from Cedar Grove in Alnwick, Northumberland, used two SIM cards to make the calls from his mobile phone but he was tracked down and arrested before he could cause disruption to rail passengers and station users.

He was jailed for 16 months and six weeks after pleading guilty to four counts of communicating false information with intent at Newcastle Crown Court.

Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw: "At the time, the defendant was on bail, with conditions to live in Alnwick but he was in the east end of Newcastle. He identified himself as being a member of Islamic State.

"He stated his name was William Robson and said Colin Gibson had planted a number of bombs in Newcastle Central Station, all set to explode and cause serious damage to the station."

He said police conducted a thorough search of the station and did not consider it necessary to evacuate the building when detecting no threat.

Defending Gibson, Joe Hedworth said mitigating factors included his client's personality disorder, attention seeking and consumption of a "significant" amount of alcohol on the night of the phone calls.

Sentencing Gibson, Judge John Milford QC said: "Claiming to be a member of Islamic State, you said that a number of bombs had been planted at the central station in this city and were set to explode.

"So it was, members of British Transport Police had to search the railway station and satisfy themselves that there were no suspicious packages to be found, as indeed there were not.

"It is right the station was not evacuated, so members of the public were not either frightened or inconvenienced."