A man who carried out a bomb hoax at Bristol Airport last year has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison today (Thursday) for his crime.

Robert Boyd-Stevenson, aged 38, sent a series of text messages containing security threats to a phone linked with the airport on August 29.

The messages resulted in emergency services attending the scene and the airport raising its security threat level, although normal contingency procedures were activated and the airport remained open.

Boyd-Stevenson, who lives in Headford Road in Bristol, was arrested after police officers identified CCTV footage of him topping up the phone at a shop in Bristol at 5.39am that morning, alongside footage of him within a public area of the airport at around 6am.

He pleaded guilty to one count of making a bomb hoax by communicating false information and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison at Bristol Crown Court.

* For the full story, pick up a copy of next week’s Mercury.