Hoax call about planted bomb costs Yaroslavl resident one year of correctional labour

A bogus caller has been handed down a sentence in the Kirov district court of Yaroslavl, the court said on Friday.

A hoax call to the police about an alleged mine planted at Yaroslavl-Glavny railway terminal -- 20 kilogrammes of TNT - cost Mikhail Batyrev, a Yaroslavl resident without a job, one year of correctional labour and deduction of 10 per cent of his earnings for the benefit of the state.

Drinking alcoholic beverages with his friends, Batyrev, one of the heads of a private firm in the past, decided to "joke". The bogus call brought to the railway station forces of Emergencies Ministry, the police, the fire service, and ambulances, while trains were rerouted.

The hoaxer was identified quickly. Batyrev pleaded not guilty at the hearings, claiming he had been slandered by one of his boon companions. But the court found experts' evidence sufficient to pass its verdict.