Student apologises for 'foolish' joke about bombs on US flight

A British student apologised yesterday for joking that she was taking three bombs on board a flight in the United States.

Speaking after she was released on bail from a Miami jail, Samantha Marson, 21, said she "wasn't thinking" when she made the comments.

But mystery surrounded the identity of the person who had put up the £2,700 bail. Her father, Jim, would only say that a businessman in the Midlands had put up the money.

Ms Marson, who was arrested before boarding a London-bound British Airways flight at Miami airport on Saturday, said the claims were a "mistake" and warned other people not to make jokes.

She was ordered to return to court on 6 February to enter a plea on a charge of making a "false bomb report" for which she faces a maximum 15 years in jail, but is likely to be treated more leniently.

Ms Marson, originally from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, said: "I feel sorry for what I did. I made a foolish mistake."

Police said she told a member of the airport security staff during a baggage check: "Hey be careful, I have three bombs in here." Asked to repeat herself, she allegedly made the same statement two more times.

Ms Marson was arrested for making the false bomb report and taken to Miami-Dade County Jail, where she spent four nights.

She had been in the US for three months with her American boyfriend and was returning to the UK to renew her visa when she was detained.