Man Sentenced Following Bomb Hoax

Graeme Maynard

On Tuesday 30 August 2005, 39-year-old Graeme Maynard of Kirkstall Avenue in Heywood was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court to two and a half years in prison after making a hoax bomb back in July 2005.

Maynard was arrested on Friday 29 July after a suspicious package was discovered the previous evening, Thursday 28 July 2005, outside of a restaurant on Milkstone Road in Freehold.

The army bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion on the package and the device was declared a hoax.

Maynard was arrested on suspicion of communicating false information with regard to a bomb hoax and placing a personal article with the intent to induce another to believe that the article is likely to explode.

Detective Inspector Martin Jeffs from the Rochdale division said, "This is a very pleasing result for us and society as a whole. It sends out a clear message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated. Following this man's actions a whole area of Freehold was cordoned off and people in nearby buildings were evacuated."

"This caused great panic and fear within the local community, which is exactly what Maynard had intended. He had said that he deliberately made the package to look like a bomb and placed it in full view of passers by outside of a restaurant. He also contacted us at the time of the hoax to say that he was planning to plant a real bomb in the Bradford area."

"I have no doubt in my mind that this man had clearly thought through his actions and was more than happy to go through with them. Unfortunately for him Greater Manchester Police, The Courts and members of the public do not agree with him and today I am pleased to say that he is starting the first day of his two and a half years behind bars."