A US citizen has been jailed for 12 months after a “sustained” bomb hoax campaign targeting venues and hospitals, including Guy’s and St Thomas’ in central London.
David Hart, 22, made 95 bogus 999 calls from late October to mid November 2023.
Hart, of West Winfield, New York was prosecuted by American authorities following a joint investigation involving the Metropolitan Police and the US Department of Homeland Security.
A court heard that Hart made multiple calls to UK telephone numbers with 66 directed to the capital.
While not all connected successfully, a significant number did.
Seven hospitals, six bars, restaurants and supermarkets, two police force control rooms and a cancer information and support services centre were all targeted.
Hart twice attempted to dial Westminster Abbey but he did so when it was nighttime in the UK meaning the calls were not answered.
On Tuesday, he appeared at the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York for sentence.
In calls, Hart typically told the person who answered the phone that he had planted a bomb at their location, which would soon explode.
He would make multiple calls, sometimes days apart, to the same victims. Most were sustained and persistent, sometimes lasting almost half an hour.
On one occasion, he told a handler at major London hospital: “I’ve put a bomb in your corridor bathroom. You have exactly 12 seconds to get out of that building.”
In another, he claimed to have planted a device in a hotel basement, describing it as homemade and filled with nails.
Although some of the call recipients were sceptical that the threats were genuine, they nonetheless took all the precautions the public would expect.
Security staff at a number of the threatened locations searched their venues.
One of the hospitals went into full lockdown while they searched for explosive devices.
The court was satisfied that Hart knew the calls would be received as the threats he intended them to be.
