A man who threatened to detonate a bomb on a flight from Melbourne was handed a hefty 12-year prison sentence in Australia.
Sri Lankan native Manodh Marks, 26, is the first person convicted under Australia’s law of attempting to take or exercise control of an airplane.
Marks ran to the cockpit door of the Malaysia Airlines plane and demanded to speak to the pilot, saying he was going to blow up the plane.
It caused panic onboard as Marks was brandishing an illuminated powerbank and cable which fooled many.
In sentencing, Judge Michael McInerney said the fact that he did not have a bomb did not lessen the offence as his actions caused real ‘terror’ onboard for other passengers.
"You announced to those who could hear you… that you had a bomb. You ran to the galley which was outside the pilots’ door, you announced there that you had a bomb and wanted to destroy the plane," McInerney said, adding that the device was ‘lifelike.’
"The crew and passengers certainly thought… that they were dealing with a real bomb and that was what was on board," he said.
Marks said his actions were caused by a drug-induced psychosis and had only left a mental health facility a few hours earlier.
The Judge ordered Marks to serve at least nine years before the possibility of parole and he will likely be deported afterwards.
