Court bomb hoaxer ends up before court

A 22-year-old woman who phoned in a bomb threat to Balclutha District Court to stop her partner going to jail ended up in court herself. Photo / Thinkstock

A woman who phoned in a bomb threat to Balclutha District Court to stop her partner going to jail ended up in court herself today.

Tina Tipui Weepu , 22, made the hoax 111 call from a phone box in Balclutha today, stating that a bomb would go off at the courthouse at noon.

Prosecutor Sergeant Glen McMurdo told the court Weepu had made the call to stop her partner from going to jail.

Police searched the courthouse and surrounding area and found nothing suspicious.

Weepu was convicted on a charge of knowingly making a fictitious message that a bomb would go off at the Balclutha courthouse.

She was also convicted of breaching bail conditions by failing to appear in court, breaching community work, taking documents for pecuniary advantage and two charges of unlawfully taking a vehicle.

Judge Stephen O'Driscoll said making a bomb threat was a serious offence and he was not prepared to grant bail, remanding Weepu in custody to appear in Dunedin District Court on October 31 for sentence.

The Balclutha District Court sitting went ahead without disruption.