An 'angry' man who threatened to blow up a police station has been jailed. On one occasion, Luke Nuttall, 29, said he would walk into Ashton police station in Tameside wearing a 'suicide vest' just hours after leaving court for another matter.
It was one of three calls made to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) staff and officers in which Nuttall, from Stockport, threatened to blow up the station in the space of six months. The first happened on January 5 this year, Manchester Magistrates' Court heard.
He told a GMP call handler he was going to blow up Ashton-under-Lyne police station, telling her: "It's not a joke, I am going to do it." He then put the phone down, Hannah Forsyth, prosecuting said.
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He was arrested two weeks later, but just a fortnight after that, on February 2, he made another call to PC in which he said: "I have got a bomb." Nuttall said he was going to 'blow the place to smithereens'. He also said he would reduce it would 'be in ruins', adding: "It's not a hoax."
On June 14 this year, just hours after being released from court on a separate matter, he rang a police sergeant's mobile and told him: "I have got a suicide vest. I am going to walk in at, what time is it now? 2:15pm? I'll be there between 2.15pm and 2.45pm and I'm going blow it up with a suicide vest."
He also called the officer 'ginger scum' and a "pig ****' in a number 'abusive and insulting' remarks. The court heard the force duty inspector was informed in order to decide if an armed response was required.
Nuttall was arrested later that day at an address on Pelham Street in Ashton - a short distance away from the police station. He told officers he had taken hundreds of tablets, so was taken to Tameside Hospital.
Whilst there, and later in a police interview, he admitted the offences and said 'words to the effect of that he had done it to get a reaction from the police', Ms Forsyth said.
In an impact statement, the sergeant who took the third call said it caused a 'great deal of concern', as they were initially unaware "how viable the threat was."
Nuttall, of Rupert Street, North Reddish, pleaded guilty to one charge of a making a bomb hoax; and two charges of sending a letter, communication or article to convey a threatening message.
Naila Akhtar, defending, said she could not minimise Nuttall's actions, which were 'distressing for the police and took up a lot of resources'.
She said he had a 'lot of anger and hate' which stemmed from the death of his father in 2016. She said his drink and drug use had 'escalated' since the trauma and that he 'had not had the assistance he should have'.
She urged the judge not to send Nuttall immediately to prison saying that he 'clearly needs help' and that 'custody won't help him, these issues will still be at the back of his head'. She appealed for a suspended sentence.
However, District Judge Bernard Begley said there was 'no justification' for suspending the sentence and jailed him for 32 weeks.
He told Nuttall that his arrest after making the first call should have acted as a 'warning about [his] future conduct'.
"But just two or three weeks later, to put it bluntly, you were at it again," he said.
"You are a person who repeatedly breaches court orders and repeatedly offends against the police, not always in this form which I accept is something of a departure for you."
Nuttall was also ordered to pay the two officers and the member of police civilian staff each £50 in compensation upon his release.
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