Man jailed for 11 September hoax

Mr Jouini made the call four hours after the attacks

A graduate who phoned a bomb hoax to police in London only hours after the 11 September attacks has been jailed for three years.

Mossadek Jouini, 38, had watched television coverage of the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center only hours before he made the call.

If you want to save lives you can take this message seriously

Hoax caller Mossadek Jouini

Jouini, a Tunisian national, from Upper Holloway, north London, admitted one charge of making a hoax telephone call, and a charge of possessing a knife.

He was jailed for three years at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Jouini had said he was a member of the Palestinian Hamas organisation, and claimed responsibility for the attacks in the US.

He claimed the former NatWest Tower in the City, one of the highest buildings in London, would be the next target.

Jouini warned that the attack would go ahead if Prime Minister Tony Blair's statements in the coming weeks showed support for the United States.

Caught red-handed

The call made at 1843BST was traced to a public call box in The Strand in central London and when police arrived they found Jouini with the telephone receiver still in his hand.

He had told the police operator: "This is a message for Mr Blair, right?

"If you want to save lives you can take this message seriously.

"If you don't, I have done my job."

When asked if he was claiming responsibility for what had happened in America, Jouini replied: "Of course we are."

Jouini's lawyer Bart Casella had told the court his client's behaviour had been "out of character" for a highly intelligent man with a joint business and language degree.

Depression and excessive drinking following his wife's decision to leave him for another man had left him in a "confused state and mentally ill".

Mr Casella said Jouini had drunk five pints of strong lager in a pub, where the scenes from America were being shown on television.

Then he found himself at the end of "racial slurs" and accusations that his "brothers" were behind the outrages.

But Jouini had not fully appreciated the "horrors of what happened that day", the barrister said.

The judge praised the police for having traced the call so quickly, and said the nearby worker who had provided such vital help should be commended for his "public-spirited actions".