A 22-year-old Singaporean man thought it would be a good idea for him to post a bomb hoax via his Instagram story.
Alas for him, the court found it to be no laughing matter and fined him for posting the story, which led to a two-and-a-half hour delay and widespread panic.
‘No one here know I’m gonna blow the plane up’
According to The Straits Times (ST), Azim Shah Bin Abubakar Shah was waiting to board a flight departing Changi Airport for Abu Dhabi on Feb 14 when he posted an Instagram story with the following words:
“No one here know I’m gonna blow the plane up.”
The story, which was posted at 6.55pm, was seen only by 16 of Azim’s friends but it was detected by a law enforcement team member at Meta, the company that owns Instagram, and police were alerted at 7.20pm.
Azim’s IP address and mobile number were also given to police.
Police were then able to trace the message back to Azim, where they determined he was onboard a plane that was still on the runway at Changi Airport.
The flight was then recalled to Terminal 2, with Azim being escorted off the plane and had his luggage searched before he was arrested at 12.10am on Feb 15.
As a result, the flight got delayed by two-and-a-half hours and the airline had to pay a late departure payment of $1,750 (approx. RM5,700) to Changi Airport.
Says it was a joke
During questioning, Azim told police that he posted the Instagram story as a joke.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of making a threatening communication likely to cause alarm in court today, where the prosecutor requested that the court impose a S$4,000 (approx. RM13,000) fine.
However, the prosecutor noted that Azim had no prior criminal record, was still young, and “made the post in jest”.
In mitigation, Azim’s lawyer asked that the fine be set at S$1,000 (approx. RM3,200), saying that his client regretted his actions and intended to continue his national service and further his studies.
The court eventually ordered Azim to pay S$3,500 (approx. RM11,400) in fines.
READ ALSO:
