A 19-year-old drag queen who made a hoax bomb threat to WHSmith’s head office has been jailed for 14 months.

Joel Broad, an ex-employee of the company, telephoned the switchboard of the retailer’s Swindon headquarters on September 1 last year and said there was a bomb in customer services.

The hoax reportedly cost WHSmith£50,000 in lost revenue as more than 200 staff were evacuated.

The site was deemed safe three hours later following a police search with sniffer dogs.

Broad had worked in WHSmith’s customer services division until his contract came to an end.

Prosecutor Nicola Jennings said the hoax could have been a revenge act. Police traced the call to the offices of Broad's then-employer.


Broad regularly performs as drag queen Tammy Tampax in pubs in Swindon, Oxfordshire and Colchester.

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