Dunedin airport bomb hoaxer has Court of Appeal application rejected

Preetam Prakash Maid. Photo / ODT

By RNZ

A former aviation security officer who planted a fake bomb on the runway at Dunedin International Airport has failed to have his case recalled in the Court of Appeal.

Preetam Prakash Maid was found guilty by a jury in 2020 of taking an imitation improvised explosive device into a security-enhanced area of an airport, breaching the Aviation Crimes Act.

In March 2019, Maid took a satchel containing an explosive device through security and placed it at the entrance of a localiser hut on the runway in an effort to cause a security incident to expose what he considered to be deficiencies in the airport's security system.

The bomb hoax came at a time of heightened public fear and anxiety only two days after the Christchurch terror attack.

He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in January 2021.

The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against conviction in September 2021. His sentence appeal was successful and his term of imprisonment was reduced to 17 months.

Maid then sought leave to appeal his conviction to the Supreme Court, representing himself, which was declined in April.

After that judgment was made, he filed a document titled "request for leave to appeal by person convicted" which was treated as an application to recall the Court of Appeal judgment dismissing his conviction appeal.

In a judgment released today, Justice Denis Clifford said there was no reason for the case to be recalled in the Court of Appeal and dismissed the application.