Barrister jailed for Nazi Olympics bomb hoax call

A BARRISTER who claimed Nazi spies were planning to attack the London Olympic opening ceremony with a stolen Russian nuclear bomb has been jailed for a year.

Michael Shrimpton has been jailed for claiming Nazi spies wanted to attack the London Olympics opening ceremony with a nuclear bomb. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Michael Shrimpton made the hoax phone call just months before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.

He had previously warned not to interfere with the search for missing toddler Madeline McCann after falsely claiming she was being held on a boat moored near Morocco.

The 57-year-old called the office of former defence secretary Philip Hammond to warn him of the alleged plot in April 2012.

He said he had been told about the plans from European contacts and that the bomb had been hidden in an ambulance being stored near a hospital in Newham, east London.

He also called the office of Aylesbury MP David Lidington, making similar claims but was arrested at his home in Wendover in Buckinghamshire.

Shrimpton had claimed the Deutsches Verteidigungs Dienst (DVD), or German Defence Service which was a Nazi era unit that had infiltrated MI5, MI6 and GCHQ was behind the plot after stealing the bomb from the sunken Russain submarine Kursk.

He said the organisation had gone underground after the end of the Second World War and they had been responsible for a number of the world’s atrocities.

Before sentencing at Southwark Crown Court, his defence team asked for an adjournment for further psychological tests to establish if Shrimpton had Asperger’s syndrome or a narcissistic personality disorder, which could explain his behaviour.

However the request was dismissed by Judge Alistair McCreath, who said: “He has been able to conduct himself for years, even if he did have those two conditions.

“If he had a personality disorder, it would just explain who he is.”

Sentencing Judge McCreath said: “I am satisfied that you knew the claims you were making were false.

“However, neither one of these cases caused any public anxiety, as there were no buildings evacuated as a result.

“It is not clear how much disruption was caused by these claims. When the Olympics were awarded to London there was great celebrations, but that was followed by a terrorist attack.”

He praised the security services in charge of the games “did great work in keeping people safe.”

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Judge McCreath said: “While I am sentencing you for these two offences, I must take into account the strict warning you were given by the authorities after your involvement in the Madeline McCann case.

“You were told in strong terms not to interfere with matters which didn’t involve you. And while I am not sentencing you for that matter it must be taken as an aggravating factor, as you committed them after this waning.”

In mitigation his defence barrister William Clegg QC said: “There’s is no real motive for this crime except to make himself feel important and he was passing on information to the authorities.

“The offence took place nearly three years ago, and it took 11 months for him to be charged. There has been delays which have not been his fault.

“I have to say this is a tragic case as he will no longer be able to continue on with the profession he loved and was his whole life.

“He will not be able to retrain and find employment and he faces years on benefits, until his pensionable age. He has no assets and was made bankrupt several years ago.

“He will also not be able to see his parents again, as they live in Australia and they are too ill to travel and with this conviction he will not be able to go and see them.”

He acknowledged the case would require a custody, but asked the judge in this case to suspend the sentence.

During the trial last year Shrimpton, a barrister and immigration judge, represented himself, but today was the first day he had defence council representing him in court.

McCreath said: “While I have taken into account what your defence has said I cannot suspend your sentence.”

Shrimpton was sentenced for both counts for 12 months to run concurrently.

Wearing a black jacket, green tie, and pinstripe black trousers, Shrimpton made no reaction and simply bowed to the judge before being lead to the cells.