British teenager, Aditya Verma made a joke that turned out to be anything but funny. The outcome was a bomb scare that disrupted a flight from London to Spain and had him facing a 22K pound fine. Fortunately for him, all charges were dropped.
The tourist, now 20, was just 18 at the time. He boarded the plane looking forward to a fun holiday. Right before takeoff, he sent out a message to five friends via Snapchat.
“On my way to blow up the plane. (I’m a member of the Taliban),” he wrote in the July 3, 2022 message.
The Message is Intercepted
The teenager’s message was sent over the airport’s Wi-Fi and quickly intercepted by intelligence agencies in Britain’s GCHQ. Spanish authorities were alerted, and a Spanish Eurofighter was sent to escort the jet to Menorca to ensure a safe arrival.
Viral footage shows a video of the Spanish warplane escorting the jet from the passengers’ perspective. Some footage is accompanied by a comment that the warplane was showing off when it “waggled its wings.” However, this is a common aviation gesture indicating that the other pilot should follow him.
The Punishment Due
The plane landed safely at Menorca Airport at 16:44, just a half hour late. But Verma did not have such a positive outcome.
He was promptly arrested by the Guardia Civil who arrived with sniffer dogs and bomb disposal experts. He was forced to spend the night at a Spanish jail and was asked to return to court 18 months later.
The man was facing a fine of 22,000 pounds (over USD 27,500). The prosecution was also seeking an additional 95,000 pounds (over 119,000 USD) in compensation to cover Ministry of Defense expenses for the fighter jet deployment.
Jail time was not considered.
Cleared of All Charges
Fortunately, the man was cleared of all charges. He explained in court that he sent the message due to the stereotypical reactions due to his features a skin tone.
Judge Jose Manuel Fernandez Prieto, who presided over the case, ruled that his comments were not offensive and were made in “a strictly private environment”. He further stated that Verma should not have expected that his messages would have been intercepted.
He mentioned that the other chat members could have warned the authorities, but they may have been charged instead of Verma.
Viewer Reactions
The video was posted on several social media sites and received shocked reactions from viewers.
“I understand the need for security but fining someone 100,000 pounds for a Snapchat joke seems excessive. It’s imp to balance safety and freedom of speech,” one commenter wrote.
“You have no privacy. Here’s your evidence,” another chimed in.
“We are supposed to take it as normal that they’re using surveillance technology to monitor what people are saying in chats to their friends? It was a tasteless joke but it’s not like he yelled it in public. He did not expect that anyone would see it outside of his friends. The implications of this are pretty deep but we’ve unfortunately become so accustomed to being spied on like this.”
The public is on Verna’s side. It was a nasty experience, but, fortunately, the charges were dropped.
