A TEENAGE father sparked a major bomb alert in Peterborough after threatening to detonate a home-made explosive device in a suicide bid.
Distraught Luke Seamark (19) cobbled together a makeshift bomb using aerosol cans and warned he would blow up his home by putting it in the microwave.
The scare, in Kesteven Walk, Eastgate, forced police to call out specialist RAF bomb disposal of
ficers, evacuate neighbours from their homes and cordon off a section of the street.
Although Seamark never carried out his threat, he was yesterday sentenced to 18 months behind bars after he admitted making a bomb hoax with intent.
Peterborough Crown Court heard the dramatic events unfolded on the afternoon of Monday, October 6, following an argument between Seamark and his then girlfriend, the mother of his infant child.
Craig McDougall, prosecuting, said Seamark had made the device three weeks earlier.
When the dispute between the couple escalated and his girlfriend's mother arrived to step in, he kicked them out of the flat and threatened to trigger his makeshift bomb to blow it up with him inside.
"Ask her what I can do with a microwave," he reportedly told the girl's mother.
Fearing he would carry out his threat, the two women alerted police. Officers arrived minutes later and sealed off the surrounding area, summoning the bomb disposal squad from RAF Wittering.
The device was removed from the flat by police after the experts declared it safe, and Seamark was subsequently arrested.
When interviewed, he told officers he had made the bomb and was planning to commit suicide by putting it in the microwave and turning it on.
"Thankfully, the package had not been in the microwave and was not triggered," Mr McDougall said.
"Had it been put in the microwave it could have caused an explosion."
Jane Oldfield, defending, said Seamark suffered from mental health problems including depression, and had a history of self-harming.
She said he had triggered the scare because he feared his relationship was in jeopardy.
Sentencing him to 18 months in a young offenders' institution, Judge Enright told Seamark: "I recognise in doing what you did you had various emotional difficulties, but you must find ways of dealing with emotional problems without affecting your own health or the safety and welfare of others."
The full article contains 393 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
