A letter threatening that a bomb would be detonated, but which did not specify when that detonation would occur, was capable of being a threat within the meaning of s.4 Public Order Act 1986 because in s.4 of the 1986 Act, as in s.47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861, it was the state of mind of the victim that was crucial, not the statistical risk of violence actually occurring within a very short space of time.

DC (Kennedy LJ, Butterfield J)

14/04/2000