'Blow the place to smithereens' Man stays out of Lancashire prison for a matter of hours

A prisoner was back behind bars just hours after being released from a jail sentence, a court was told.

Adam Bonnell’s brief taste of freedom was cut short when he threatened to kill a support worker at a bail hostel and “blow the place to smithereens”.

The 31-year-old was back in front of a judge in Preston this week where he pleaded guilty to making threats to kill and threatening to destroy or damage property.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years and told by Recorder Jeremy Lasker that the court had to take his threats seriously and not just regard them as “hot air”.

Barrister Daniel Bramhall, prosecuting, told the city’s Crown Court that Bonnell, from Lancaster and currently in Lancaster Farms Prison, had been released on October 14 last year on licence after serving half of a 12-month sentence for assault, damaging property and public order offences.

He was given a travel warrant and told to report to the Howard House Bail Hostel in St Peter’s Street, Blackburn by 3pm that day. When he hadn’t arrived by 5pm a senior probation officer activated his recall to prison.

Bonnell eventually turned up at around 8pm smelling strongly of alcohol and unsteady on his feet. A probation officer tried to breathalyse him but was unable to do so. Instead he began getting aggressive and said he was going to blow the building up.

Two police officers arrived and said they were arresting him for breaching his licence conditions. Bonnell became irate with the officers and began to make threats to the hostel staff saying he would petrol bomb the building and use Napalm. He also threatened to throw acid in the police officers’ faces.

He told them he “might as well get life” and shouted to one support worker: “You’re dead, you’re dead!”

Police had to restrain him to prevent him from approaching her. He then said he was going to stab her in the chest and when he was eventually released he would get a shotgun and “go on the rampage”.

He said he didn’t care what happened to him and he would “burn the property down and petrol bomb it”.

In a victim impact statement the woman member of staff targeted by Bonnell said that probation officers were being seriously harmed and killed in the course of their work and that scared her because she thought that one day it could happen to her. She added that the reason she went to work every day was to help people.

Bonnell’s criminal record contained 33 previous offences including a number for similar offences of making threats. These latest offences were aggravated by the fact he was on licence from prison at the time.

Rachel Woods, representing Bonnell, said: “This was someone who was in drink. He had no legitimate wherewithal to carry out these threats.”

She said he had mental health problems and the situation that day had been a “perfect storm”. He had been issued with the wrong travel warrant and had struggled to get to Blackburn on time. He had even contacted them to make sure they knew he would be late.

When he arrived he became aware they had already made the decision to recall him to prison and there were police officers on their way to take him back.

Ms Woods said her client had used “vile language, horrible threats in sheer frustration”. “He was very, very upset and annoyed and made disgusting and horrible comments.”

Recorder Lasker said Bonnell had used a “catalogue of threats” and had aimed many at one hostel support worker “who had been dealing with you and who you obviously blamed for your recall and you made threats to kill her”.

“You were effectively fixated on telling them you would return and blow up the hostel, you would bomb the place and you were making a threat to kill her (probation worker) when you came out.

“You said you would come back and put a petrol bomb to the place, you said to her ‘you are dead’”.

He had compared himself with infamous killers Raoul Moat and Dale Cregan. He had made the hostel support worker very anxious with his threats and the judge told him: “This sort of behaviour is behaviour you have indulged in in the past.

“Your threats may not be just hot air and need to be taken seriously by this court. Ms Woods said on your behalf that when you were making these threats (in Blackburn) you weren’t in a position to carry them out. But you made the point you would come back, kill her, torch the place and blow it to smithereens.

“The threats you made were threats of significant violence. You committed this on the very first day of your licence period. There aren’t many prisoners who are recalled (to jail) on the day they are released.”