An Australian man's joke about a bomb in his luggage turned
sour at Hamilton International Airport this morning.
The traveller from Sydney sparked a security alert at the
airport and faces charges of breaching the Aviation Act.
Acting Senior Sergeant Ricky Thompson said the alarm was
raised shortly before 8am when Aviation Security staff called
police about a man who had told them there was a ticking bomb
in one of his bags.
"He'd arrived on a trans-Tasman flight early this morning and
was waiting in the terminal with the intent of arranging
further transport and wandered off, leaving his bags
unattended," Mr Thompson said.
"Returning to the upstairs lounge he found Av-Sec staff with
his bags who cautioned him about leaving his luggage
unattended in an airport to which he responded that one of
his bags contained a bomb and could they not hear it
ticking?"
Realising his attempt at humour was back-firing, the man told
the security officers he was only joking. The 44-year-old
man's bags were searched and no suspicious devices were
found, but a Swiss Army knife was recovered. The man was
arrested.
Mr Thompson said police hoped the man's arrest would serve as
a timely reminder of how serious security around airports was
taken.
"It's not something we take lightly and anyone contemplating
similar behaviour would be best advised to keep their 'jokes'
to themselves," said Mr Thompson.
