‘There’s a bomb in my bag!'

A British woman is reportedly in a jail in the United States this morning after she jokingly told US customs officials that she had a bomb in her bag. The Sun newspaper reports that 21-year-old Samantha Marson said: “I’ve got a bomb” after being asked by officials at Miami what was in her bag – despite the fact that airports in the United States are on a high alert for potential terror attacks. The newspaper reports that the woman is now facing up to six months in jail because she cannot afford to pay her bail, which has been set at nearly GBP4,500. Samantha’s father reportedly told the newspaper: “We are beside ourselves with worry. I’m sure Samantha will accept that it is a silly thing to say but she is the sort of girl who might have thought it would make people laugh. Clearly the Americans did not see the joke but she hardly looks like Osama bin Laden, for God’s sake.” A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed that a British national was being held by US authorities.