A man who made a hoax phone call claiming his estranged wife was about to board a transatlantic flight with a bomb in her bag has been jailed for a year.

Kevin Flynn, 31, of Ashburnham Close, Worthing, told police that Kerensa Flynn was boarding a New York-bound aircraft which was taking off from either Heathrow or Gatwick.

The chef made the anonymous call from a phone box in Bognor on July 31 after the couple had decided to end their relationship and she was to fly home to the United States.

A transcript of the call was read out at Chichester Crown Court today.

Flynn told the operator: “I’m only going to say this once, it’s an anonymous call.

“There's a Kerensa Flynn or Kerensa Romara-MacMahan currently boarding at Heathrow or Gatwick with a bomb in her bag.”

Ed Hand, prosecuting, said: “His motivation was to get her stopped and humiliated.”

He said the pair had been having problems in their four-year marriage for some time and they had decided to go their separate ways.

Police were sent to Flynn’s address and at first he denied making the call but on further questioning admitted he had and that it was a hoax.

Meanwhile officers from Sussex Police and the Met Police were sent to Gatwick and Heathrow airports where Ms Flynn was intercepted, with no disruption being caused to other passengers at either site.

Mr Hand said that during questioning Flynn told officers about their relationship breakdown. He said: “Things had come to a head after a period of trouble between the two.

“He said his anger was raised. He had visions of her laughing at him as she was on her plane.”

Gareth Morgan, defending, said that Flynn's marriage woes had led to problems with alcohol and he had also been badly affected by witnessing the death of his best friend's father in the months leading up to the incident.

Judge William Wood QC said: “I take the view that this kind of behaviour in which police resources may have to be wasted to prevent any threat coming to fruition and when there is a chance of large-scale disruption or evacuation of buildings or aeroplanes and airports, this class of misconduct is so serious there is no possibility to do anything but impose an immediate custodial sentence.”