UK: ‘It Was a Joke’- 18 Year Old Faces $24,500 Penalty for ‘Blowing up Plane’ Remark
A British passenger is facing a penalty of up to €22,500 ($24,500) for a comment on social media on his way to the island of Menorca saying “he was going to blow up the plane”, BBC reported.
A message on Snapchat, sent by Aditya Verma before he departed UK’s Gatwick airport in July 2022, read: “On my way to blow up the plane (I’m a member of the Taliban).”
The message was picked up by the UK security services, who in turn alerted the Spanish authorities, prompting the latter to scramble two Spanish fighter jets to follow the plane.
Soon after the plane landed at Menorca, Verma, who was 18 at the time, was arrested and kept in a police cell for two days and was later released on bail, a Madrid court was told Monday as the case came up for hearing.
He was questioned by the British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 after he returned to the UK.
Varma, who appeared before the court, said the message was “a joke in a private group setting.” “It was just sent to my friends I was travelling with on the day,” he said, as reported by BBC.
Police experts, who combed Varma’s phone for any suspicious activity, told the court that they found he had researched clashes between Pakistan and India and the possibilities of an Islamic State attack in that area. However, they said they did not find anything of interest that linked Verma to jihadist radicalism.
Although Verma is not facing terrorism charges or a possible jail term, the Spanish defence ministry is demanding €95,000 in expenses besides the fine of €22,500 if he is found guilty.
