Stressed KFC worker phoned in bomb hoax

A man who could not cope with the demands of a busy Saturday night shift at a fast food restaurant has been jailed for nine months for phoning the police and falsely claiming there was a bomb on the premises.

Twelve police officers and two paramedic units were sent to the KFC restaurant at Galleys Corner in Braintree, Essex, on April 24 after restaurant supervisor Terry Johnston called police saying a bomb was about to explode.

Around 500 people were evacuated from four restaurants in the area and the A&E department at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, was put on stand-by as emergency services went to the scene.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Johnston, 28, from Braintree, had acted out of desperation when the stresses of managing the busy restaurant became too much for him to cope with.

The following day, after realising the implications of his actions, he walked into Braintree police station and confessed.

Catherine Bradshaw, defending, told the court Johnston had suffered a "temporary breakdown" when he was told he would have to work a double shift because the manager who should have taken over from him phoned in sick.

"He was phoned up by the manager to say she was ill and he knew he would have another shift to do on Saturday night - the busiest night.

"The queues were getting longer and the complaints more frequent and, in his words, he lost it. He knew he had to get out of the environment," she said.

Johnston pleaded guilty to communicating false information about a bomb hoax at Braintree Magistrates' Court on May 13.

Miss Bradshaw said there was no suggestion the hoax was done at a fit of anger at his employees or as a malicious prank but was a cry for help.

The court heard that McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Frankie & Benny's were evacuated along with KFC for more than two and a half hours at a total loss of around £4,000.

Sentencing Johnston to nine months in jail, Judge Hayward Smith QC said he accepted the bomb hoax was out of character but, in the current climate, any such offence was extremely serious and a custodial sentence was necessary as a deterrent.

"I will be failing in my duty if I did not take the view that this case is far too serious for a non-custodial sentence as your counsel urge me to pass."
He told Johnston he would be released from prison after he had served half his sentence.

As Johnston was led away, his mother, grandmother and partner sobbed at the back of the court.