A man who posted on social media that he had planted a bomb at Leeds United’s stadium has been ordered to pay £10,000.
Leeds United was forced to close the ground for two days after drunk Koli Boci posted the “stupid” hoax on Instagram in March. Leeds Crown Court heard on Wednesday that the 21-year-old uploaded two Instagram posts saying he had planted an improvised explosive device at Elland Road, to be detonated at the club’s next home game two weeks later.
The club was evacuated and was closed for two days so experts could investigated. Boci was arrested at his home in Royal Gardens, Hunslet and discovered there was a copy of a book featuring instructions on how to make home-made bombs. In his police interview, Boci said he had been out drinking with a friend and that it was a “drunken, misjudged attempt at humour.”
He said the book found at his home was something he had been given as a teenager and kept only as a collection piece. Boci went on to plead guilty to making a bomb hoax by communicating false information.
The court heard Boci came from a hard-working family, and his barrister James Littlehales described his crime as “an act of the utmost stupidity.” It was said Boci had “no real explanation save for it was a bad joke.”
He was handed a nine-month sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to undertake rehabilitation days, a 90-day abstinence requirement programme, and 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £10,000 in compensation within 12 months.