Watch as man plants fake bomb next to Gateshead shop "for a joke"
A man who strapped a hoax bomb to a lamppost outside a premises in Gateshead has been jailed.
Just before 8.30am on Monday, November 17, police received a report of suspicious activity outside the Nisa Local shop on Durham Road in Birtley.
It was reported that a suspicious device had been strapped to a lamppost with a clock attached.
Officers attended the scene and a cordon was put in place. A number of properties in the area were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Thanks to fast track CCTV enquiries, a few hours after the report was first made, John Maughan, now aged 50, was arrested at an address on Eslington Terrace in Newcastle on suspicion of placing a hoax bomb with intent.
He was charged the next day with the offence and appeared before Mid and South East Northumberland Magistrates Court where he pleaded not guilty and a trial was set for April 2026.
Maughan of Lyneburn Cottages, Morpeth, changed his plea in January at a court hearing at Newcastle Crown Court.
This week he returned to the same court where he was sentenced to 16 months behind bars.