Southend man jailed for hostage threat and bomb hoax

A Southend man who held a woman and a baby hostage whilst making a bomb hoax has been jailed for 12 months.

Wayne Kavanagh, 28, of Derek Gardens, informed police that he planned to harm himself and the people inside a flat in Sherwood Way on the afternoon of Monday September 30, after officers had attended the address to arrest him for outstanding offences.

At around 4.50pm that afternoon, having been in conversation with police officers and trained negotiators for more than four hours, Kavanagh claimed to have several weapons, including a “home-made bomb” with him in the flat.

Kavanagh then put an unknown device on the windowsill of the flat, which officers believed may have been the weapon, before moving it back inside the flat.

He eventually surrendered to officers shortly before midnight the same day. Officers carried out a thorough search of the flat and no weapons were found.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Dave Richards, said: “Kavanagh’s actions were cowardly and dangerous. We evacuated a large number of flats as a result of his threats and our officers spent the evening ensuring the safety of the other people inside the flat, one of whom was a toddler, who he was threatening to hurt.

“I’m glad that this disruption will see Kavanagh sent to prison, and hope this will serve as a warning to anyone else who is tempted to waste the resources of the emergency services in such a callous way.”