Updated | Magistrate's instinct is proved correct by bomb hoax arrest

A man who called in a hoax bomb threat to the Gozo courts to avoid a court sitting has been handed a suspended sentence and fined €1000 after a magistrate's canny instinct led to his arrest.

Sources close to the case informed the MaltaToday that the man, 23 year-old Gabriel Zammit, had been convicted of failing to pay alimony to his estranged wife. The court had given him an hour to pay €600 in backdated maintenance payments and the bomb threat was made to the court within that hour.

Before Magistrate Paul Coppini, Zammit pleaded guilty to the bomb hoax charges. He was handed a 6 month sentence suspended for two years, together with a €1000 fine.

It is understood that Zammit was arrested after Magistrate Joe Mifsud had given the police two names of persons he suspected to be behind the threat. Subsequent police investigations proved the magistrate's hunch to be correct and the matter was resolved within the hour. No court sittings were disrupted by the threat.