Man pleads guilty to hoax tsunami e-mails (From This Is Local London)

Man pleads guilty to hoax tsunami e-mails

2:17pm Tuesday 4th January 2005 in

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A 37-year-old man pleaded guilty yesterday to malicious communication and public nuisance for sending 35 hoax e-mails to families searching for tsunami victims.

Christopher Pierson, from Riskington, Lincolnshire, was charged with communicating "grossly offensive content" with "the purpose of causing distress and anxiety" at Horseferry Magistrates Court in Westminster.

The e-mails were sent to people who placed appeals for loved ones on the Sky News website.

The hoax e-mails were all sent from the bogus e-mail address ukgovfoffice@aol.com, purportedly from the "Foreign Office Bureau" in Thailand. They stated that the missing person was confirmed dead.

Pierson was caught in a joint operation between the Metropolitan and Lincolnshire Police on New Year's Eve.

No bail was granted and Pierson has been remanded in custody due to the preparation of psychiatric reports. He will be sentenced at Bow Street Magistrates Court on January 24.