Somerset man charged over hoax emergency calls in US and Canada
22 year old Liam White from Weston-super-Mare is due in court tomorrow
A Somerset man is among three people charged with making hoax calls fabricating serious incidents to prompt an emergency response in the USA and Canada.
22 year old Liam White from Weston-super-Mare is facing three counts of conspiring together and with others to do a series of acts tending or intending to pervert the course of justice.
18 year old Dylan Ash from Warrington is accused of the same offences, while 18 year old Kieron Ellison from St Helens is charged with two counts of conspiring together and with others to do a series of acts tending or intending to pervert the course of justice.
All three of them are due before Liverpool Magistrates Court tomorrow (Thursday 1st May).
Their arrests follow a two and a half year investigation by Merseyshire Police and United States law enforcement agencies.
Detective Sergeant Steve Frame, said: “The charges are the culmination of an extensive investigation by Merseyside Police working with US law enforcement, including the FBI.
"They relate to the online activities of an internet based group between October 2022 and April 2023, which planned, advertised and carried out calls to emergency services and internet celebrities reporting fabricated serious, life threatening incidents, ‘active shooter threats’ to prompt an emergency response.”
Bethan David, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against these three defendants are now active and that they have the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”