'I've planted a bomb... you have 12 seconds to get out': Moment US hoax caller threatens major hospital during sustained campaign targeting London venues
Over the course of less than a month David Hart, a 22-year-old from West Winfield in New York, made 95 bogus phone calls to restaurants, the police and even Westminster Abbey.
By ED HOLT
Published: 16:48 GMT, 8 January 2026 | Updated: 17:00 GMT, 8 January 2026
An American man carried out a sustained bomb hoax campaigning targeting venues in London and across the UK.
Over the course of less than a month David Hart, a 22-year-old from West Winfield in New York, made 95 bogus phone calls to restaurants, the police and even Westminster Abbey claiming to have planted explosives.
He would often call the same victims multiple times and sometimes remaining on the line for almost half an hour.
In one harrowing phone call to a major London hospital he said: 'I've put a bomb in your corridor bathroom. You have exactly 12 seconds to get out of that building.'
Another hospital went into a full lockdown while a search for explosive devices was undertaken.
Now, Hart has been prosecuted by US authorities following a joint investigation involving detectives from the Metropolitan Police and their counterparts in the US Department for Homeland Security.
On Tuesday, January 6 he appeared at the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York where he was sentenced to a year in prison.
The court heard that from late October to mid November 2023, Hart made 95 different calls to numbers in the UK with 66 being made to London numbers.
Over the course of less than a month David Hart, a 22-year-old from West Winfield in New York, made 95 bogus phone calls to restaurants, the police and even Westminster Abbey claiming to have planted explosives
Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London were one of Hart's victims. In one harrowing phone call to a major London hospital he said: 'I've put a bomb in your corridor bathroom. You have exactly 12 seconds to get out of that building'
While not all calls connected successfully, a significant number did.
The venues targeted included seven hospitals, six bars, restaurants and supermarkets, two police force control rooms and a cancer information and support services centre.
Hart even twice attempted to call Westminster Abbey late at night but both went unanswered.
In those calls, he typically told the person who answered the phone that he had planted a bomb at their location, which would soon explode.
Hart would make multiple calls, sometimes days apart, to the same victims. The calls were sustained and persistent, sometimes lasting almost half an hour.
On one occasions he claimed to have planted a bomb in a hotel basement, describing it as homemade and filled with nails.
Although some of the call recipients were sceptical that the threats were genuine, they nonetheless took all the precautions the public would expect.