Sheffield teen escapes jail after dunken prank call to White House

A teenager who phoned the White House and claimed there was a bomb in central New York during a “drunken prank” has escaped jail.

Thomas Hutchinson, 19, of Durlston Crescent, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, sparked an international terrorism investigation after he made the phone call during a barbecue on May 10 last year.

Hutchinson was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court for the hoax, in which he claimed there was a bomb in Madison Square Gardens.

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