Bomb threat bridegroom is jailed in Liverpool 22 October 2013 Last updated at 11:45 A would-be bridegroom who made a hoax bomb threat to a wedding venue after realising he had failed to confirm his booking has been jailed. Neil McArdle, 36, of Medbourne Crescent, Liverpool, realised his error the day before he was due to marry at St George's Hall in the city in April. Rather than tell fiancee Amy Williams, he made a bomb-threat call from a phonebox, Liverpool Crown Court heard. He was given a 12-month jail sentence after admitting making the hoax call. No laughing matter McArdle told the receptionist for the building, which houses Liverpool Register Office, a bomb was due to go off within 45 minutes. The building was evacuated and the wedding party then arrived to find a scene of chaos, the court heard. Once the building was reopened, McArdle's bride was told there was no booking for the wedding and McArdle admitted his hoax. He later pleaded guilty to communicating false information about a bomb hoax. Barrister Charles Lander, defending, said: "If it wasn't so serious the facts of this case have all the markings of a comedy." However, he said McArdle realised this was "no laughing matter." Judge Norman Wright said it was an "extremely serious" case, with custody the only appropriate sentence.