A 21-year-old male resident of Hong Kong was sentenced yesterday to four months in prison for phoning in a bomb hoax in order to stop his Taiwanese wife from leaving the city, the Hong Kong media reported.
On Oct. 22, Hong Kong resident Feng Ren-yuan (馮任遠) phoned the police around 10:40pm and told them that a bomb was placed on China Airlines flight CI618 -- 25 minutes before the plane's departure to Taipei.
All passengers were immediately evacuated from the aircraft. Police inspected the plane thoroughly and found that there was no bomb. The CAL flight finally took off two hours later than scheduled.
Police later traced the telephone call and arrested Feng on Oct. 31. According to the police, Feng made the call in order to stop his wife from leaving him and returning to Taiwan.
Feng's wife, Huang Ching-yi (黃靜怡), used to work at a local television station in Taiwan. The two met in Taiwan in 1999 when Feng was doing business here. The couple married last June and moved to Hong Kong.
According to the Hong Kong newspaper, The Sun (太陽報), Huang decided to leave her husband after a big fight last month.
A Hong Kong judge said yesterday that Feng's misdeed was seen in a very serious light, as a bomb scare can cause public panic -- especially in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
According to Hong Kong law, the perpetrator of a bomb hoax can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
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