Hilton Woolf: Financial planner who threatened to ‘blow-up’ Sydney airport because Qantas lost his wife’s luggage learns his fate in court
Hilton Woolf: Financial planner who threatened to blow up Sydney airport because Qantas lost wife’s luggage hears his fate in court
- Financial planner said he would ‘blow up’ Sydney Airport
- Told the court it was due to a “brain snap” out of frustration
A man responsible for shutting down Sydney International Airport with a bomb threat has revealed what prompted the eruption.
North Bondi Sydney financial planner Hilton Woolf faced the Downing Center local court on Tuesday after making threats to a Qantas call center in May this year.
The court heard that Woolf had shouted ‘you bastards, I’m coming and blowing up your fucking airport’ after the airline lost his wife’s luggage on a flight from Johannesburg.
He pleaded guilty to one count of threatening to destroy, damage or endanger the safety of a Commonwealth aerodrome in July.
The court was told that Woolf “unequivocally accepted” that what he did was “inappropriate,” and described his actions as the result of a “brain snap.”
Sydney’s North Bondi financial planner Hilton Woolf (pictured) has been fined $1,200 and sentenced for saying he would ‘blow up’ Sydney Airport
Woolf made the comments at the end of a phone call his wife transferred to Qantas customer service about returning her luggage.
The recorded conversation became more aggressive when Ms. Woolf began to verbally abuse the staff and became so frustrated that she started swearing at them.
Her husband’s outburst came only after she started crying on the phone.
The call would then be passed on to Australian Federal Police, who would arrive at the Woolf household two days later.
Woolf told officers he knew why they were there and asked if it was because of the call.
Court documents showed that Woolf had “fully and candidly” admitted to making the threats over the phone.
He made the threat after his wife collapsed in frustration during a call to Qantas customer service after her luggage was lost on a flight home from Johannesburg (stock image)
Woolf’s lawyer told the court on Tuesday that he didn’t believe anyone heard what he said on the other end of the phone call, according to the Daily telegram.
His outburst was provoked by sheer anger and frustration…. it was a brain teaser, there was no intention behind it,” said his lawyer.
She noted that her client had no criminal record, while his friends and family had provided the court with character references describing him as a “model citizen.”
Despite this, magistrate Robert Williams filed a petition for Woolf to be denied a conviction, fined $1,200, and received the conviction.
“Any violation that jeopardizes security at an airport, or people or aircraft at the airport, should be discouraged,” Magistrate Williams said.
The conviction could affect his ability to travel abroad in the future.