US jail hell for bomb joke

A British tourist who joked that he "didn't have a bomb" as he boarded a flight from New York three weeks after the 11 September terrorist attacks spent a month in one of America's most notorious prisons.

Loveland Adjei, from Borehamwood, made the comment on Kuwait Airways as he flew back to London after a week's holiday. Ghanaian-born Mr Adjei, 33, was asked by a flight attendant what he was carrying in a plastic bag, to which he replied flippantly: "Don't worry, I don't have a bomb in my jacket."

He said the stewardess smiled and showed him to his seat, and he thought the comment had been "taken as a harmless remark". Moments later he was escorted off the plane by an air marshall and handed to 15 armed FBI officers. He was handcuffed, searched and asked to explain his comment to the stewardess, who had told the officers she heard him say he had a bomb.

Mr Adjei, a distribution coordinator for a courier firm, said: "I was scared and shocked and didn't know what was happening. I heard the arresting officer say, 'you'll go to jail for saying you've got a bomb in your jacket'."

Mr Adjei says the stewardess misheard him. "It's a case of miscommunication, she must have heard me wrong," he said. After hours of grilling, Mr Adjei says he heard one of the FBI officers say to the arresting officer: "He's all yours.

We've got nothing on him. Let him go in the morning." As the FBI man left, he reprimanded Mr Adjei, saying: "Don't make such a comment again."

However, to his shock, he was hauled before a judge and charged with "falsely reporting an incident in the third degree", a charge which in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on America, was changed from a Class B to a Class A offence.

Mr Adjei was appointed a lawyer, whom he claims did not speak to him at all about his defence. Bail was set at £6,000 and later halved, but Mr Adjei was unable to pay and was remanded to the notorious Rikers Island jail - home to some of America's most hardened criminals. Before that he spent a night in a police cell in Queens, an experience he describes as "horrible".

He was then transferred to Rikers Island and placed in a low classification wing to await his next court appearance on 22 October.

He said everyone he told about the case "fully expected" it to be dropped, but when he went to court he was offered a deal by the district attorney.

"He said I could do eight months or the option of taking my case in front of a grand jury but I refused to take the deal and go for the jury because I didn't do anything wrong," Mr Adjei said.

The case was again adjourned and he was sent back to Rikers. Eventually, he was introduced to a new lawyer by an inmate.

After another court appearance, the case was dismissed within minutes.

Mr Adjei said: "I can never erase my experiences from my memory. It was a terrible experience. I can't sleep and it's affected my work and my marriage. I'm angry all the time. I saw so many things I can't even talk about.

"The guards don't care. They treat inmates like animals and the food served you wouldn't give to a dog. I've now got a bad back because I slept on a concrete slab for a month.

"I celebrated my 33rd birthday in prison, with nothing to eat. I nearly starved but one of the inmates felt sorry for me and gave me a bag of crisps. I was so sad, I just wanted to get back to my wife and kids."