Victorian woman Richelle Penny, 42, appeared in court over charges relating to making bomb threats at Hobart Airport
A Melbourne woman accused of making a false bomb threat at Hobart Airport has been bailed to return to Victoria.
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A Melbourne woman accused of making a false bomb threat at Hobart Airport has been bailed to return to Victoria.
Richelle Penny, 42, from Knoxfield in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, was described by her legal representative as a “larrikin” when she faced an out-of-sessions bail hearing in Hobart Magistrates’ Court this morning.
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Police allege Ms Penny made two false threats about carrying an explosive device in her luggage as a joke as she attempted to board a Virgin flight to Melbourne about 12pm on Friday.
Police opposed bail because they were concerned she wouldn’t return to Tasmania to answer the charges.
But Ms Penny assured the court she would come back, and had the money to do so.
Outside court, Ms Penny she said the charges had made her out to be a “bad person”.
A disability support pensioner, Ms Penny said she was more concerned about the impact the charges would have on her daughters, two of which were in court.
She told media she was just repeating a joke her driver had said on the way to the airport.
A police prosecutor told the court Ms Penny had consumed two beers before attempting to board the flight.
The prosecutor said Ms Penny allegedly told Virgin check-in staff “I’ve only got a bomb in this one, because you can’t get two bombs on a plane”.
The court heard she allegedly made another remark about a bomb to a marshalling officer on the tarmac as she was getting on the aircraft.
Ms Penny managed to make her way to her seat before she was removed from the Virgin flight, which was delayed by an hour. She spent the night in custody in Hobart.
When questioned by police following her arrest she denied making the second threat to staff on the tarmac but said she could have mentioned it in conversation with her daughters, the court heard.
Ms Penny’s defence lawyer said his client was “a bit of a larrikin” and didn’t understand being a larrikin and “smart-arse” at airports was not appropriate.
He said she didn’t fly often and hadn’t no prior record of this type of incident before.
She was bailed to face Hobart Magistrates’ Court on February 7.