Pensioner left hoax bomb at dentist

Published: 2:31PM GMT 09 Mar 2010

Peter McShane, 84, of Pembroke Dock, west Wales, wrapped up a massive oblong box in a bin bag and carried it down to his local dental surgery.

The hoax bomb, consisting of a brick, ticking alarm clock and twisted wires, gave rise to a major police operation when it was discovered last month.

Homes surrounding the Bush Street dental surgery, in Pembroke Dock, were evacuated and the bomb destroyed in a controlled explosion.

McShane was living in Ettrick House, in nearby Laws Street, at the time and was among those evacuated when the police were called.

He appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court this day where he admitted making the bogus bomb and placing it on the surgery’s steps.

He also admitted seven other charges ranging from criminal damage against the premises of dentist Michael Williams and a handful of neighbours.

He also pleaded guilty to a single charge of burglary on a flat in 2000 in the complex he owned.

Ellie Morgan, prosecuting, stated the revenge attacks began after McShane was charged £183 after visiting the dentist in October 2007.

”He was aggrieved at that because he felt that he was an NHS patient not a private one,” she said.

She stated McShane was eventually reimbursed for the amount but that the attacks continued.

They included damaging door locks at the practice by injecting super glue into them and stealing a plaque from a wall.

Super glue was also widely used in disputes with neighbours who were also tenants and at the premises of a local newsagent with whom he was in dispute.

When police eventually searched his home they found seven tubes of super glue and a double glue gun for ease in applying it.

CCTV footage was used by the police to track down McShane the day after the hoax on February 15.

It showed him struggling with his package which was so heavy he was obliged to set it down along the way.

Mrs Morgan stated the box used for the bogus bomb was 40in long by 8in wide.

”It was wrapped in a bin bag with twisted wires coming out of it and ticking like a bomb.”

Shaun Dyer, defending, told the court that the main incident with the hoax bomb stemmed from the way McShane had been treated by the dentist.

He stated that McShane had not called the emergency services and reported the package as a bomb himself, that had been members of the public.

His intention had not been to cause general fear in the community.

“He wanted to frighten the dentist into thinking that the package on the doorstep was a bomb,” he said.

“But it was extremely amateurish. An 84-year-old man carried a box with a brick and a clock in it.

“I am not trying to excuse what he has done. But what has happened is a juvenile prank which has completely got out of control.”

Magistrates told McShane the seriousness of the main offence was such that he should be sentenced at a crown court which had powers to punish him more harshly.

He was released on conditional bail to Swansea Crown Court on April 9th.

source : www.telegraph.co.uk