A former British press wunderkind who joked to friends that he was a member of the Taliban who was going to blow up the plane he was about to board has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Aditya Verma, 20, admitted telling friends before traveling to Spain: “I’m on my way to blow up the plane.” “I am a member of the Taliban,” during his day-long trial in Madrid on Monday.
But the college student insisted he was joking with his friends in a private Snapchat group before he was kicked off the flight.
Aditya said he had “no intention” of mobilizing the two Spanish fighter jets sent to escort the packed EasyJet plane carrying him and 140 other tourists as it approached Menorca in July 2022 along with police and firefighters in land.
And a judge today ruled that Aditya, who represented England in several international chess tournaments and once met legendary player Gary Kasparov, must be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Aditya Verma, a former British chess prodigy, admitted in court that he told his friends before traveling to Spain: “I’m on my way to blow up the plane.” “I am a member of the Taliban.” He has now been acquitted by a Spanish court.
Aditya Verma insisted in court on Monday (pictured) while heading to trial that he was joking with his friends in a private Snapchat group.
Verma appeared in court for the first time on July 5, 2022 in a closed-door hearing.
The Spanish F-18 fighter, seen through the plane window, escorts an Easyjet flight heading from London to the Spanish resort island of Menorca, after a hoax bomb threat by Verma on July 3, 2022.
Aditya was 18 when he was arrested after landing on the island on July 3, 2022 for a post-A-Level exam holiday after finishing at St Olave’s Secondary School in Orpington, Kent.
He was later charged with a public order offense following a lengthy closed-door investigation before attending his trial on Monday.
Aditya had sent the message in a private group that he shared with six friends along with a photo of him wearing sunglasses and a hat.
British authorities picked up Aditya’s message sent while he was still at Gatwick airport and sent an alert to Spanish authorities. Spain sent two fighter jets to escort the overcrowded EasyJet plane to Menorca.
Aditya told the National Court in Madrid on Monday: “At school they called me Taliban because of my features and I used to joke about it and I know that the Taliban is considered a terrorist group.”
“But I didn’t think it was going to cause fear to people on the flight because it was sent to a private group of friends and it wasn’t intended for them.”
Aditya, who is currently studying economics at the University of Bath, confessed during questioning: ‘I said in the message I sent with the photo before boarding: ‘I’m on my way to blow up the plane.’ I am a member of the Taliban.
“It was a joke in a private group sent to friends that I had known for eight, nine, ten years mainly and that I was playing with that day.”
Spanish prosecutors said on Monday they wanted him to pay 94,782.47 euros (£81,251) towards the cost of dismantling a Eurofighter military aircraft and a fine of 22,500 euros (£19,288) if he was found guilty.
But Judge José Manuel Fernández-Prieto said today that his actions had not constituted a crime after issuing his verdict just three days after the end of the quick trial in the centralized court of the National Court.
He said of the young Briton’s actions: “There is no apparent intention to provoke the mobilization of a military aircraft, or of any police or other emergency service.”
And he added: “It cannot be ignored that the message and the accompanying photograph were not sent to any official body, nor were they publicized in any way that would inevitably lead to the corresponding mobilization of the relevant police, assistance or rescue services.” .
‘On the contrary, they were shared in a strictly private environment, between the accused and the friends he was traveling with, to which only they had access.
“The defendant could not even remotely assume (as he expressly stated at trial) that the prank he played on his friends could be intercepted or detected by the British services, or by third parties other than his friends who received the message.”
The chess prodigy (pictured) won national championships and even placed fourth at the world junior championship.
Aditya, who has represented England in several international chess tournaments and once met legendary player Gary Kasparov, was summoned for trial today.
Last week it emerged that Spanish prosecutors wanted Aditya to pay €94,782.47 (£81,251) towards the cost of dismantling a Eurofighter military aircraft and a fine of €22,500 (£19,288) if he was found guilty.
British security services are believed to have picked up the message via Gatwick Airport’s public WiFi service, although there was no confirmation in court.
Aditya admitted that one of his friends might have been using the airport WiFi.
A friend giving evidence on his behalf denied the prosecutor’s suggestion that one of them could have shared the ‘Taliban bomb joke’ with others outside their Snapchat group and it could have been picked up that way.
When his defense lawyer, Margarita Quintana, asked him what he thought when he saw two military planes near his Easyjet plane, even though only one plane was mentioned in the pre-trial indictment, Aditya replied: “Just before that moment it was happening. the war between Ukraine and Russia and I thought it was a military exercise related to that conflict.
‘The pilot said the planes had been sent because he had accidentally sent a distress signal in a communication error and that it was being fixed.
“They held me and my friends when we landed and locked us in a room for a couple of hours and then told me they would arrest me and take me to a police station.”
The court heard that the alert that led to the mobilization of the Spanish fighters came from the United Kingdom secret services.
It was not clear how they obtained the information, although a friend of Aditya said the information, including the photo, could have been obtained from Gatwick Airport WiFi servers that one of the friends in the Snapchat group was using.
One of the three analysts who gave evidence, who was not named and referred to only by a reference number, said they did not detect any links to terrorist groups on Aditya’s phone.
He suggested that one of the seven members of the Snapchat group could have made the ‘prank bomb’ and the image public by sharing it with others.
But Aditya’s friend, who was on the same flight to Menorca and identified himself in court as Akash Raf, insisted: “If someone had taken a screenshot or shared the photo with someone outside the group, we would all have received a message on our phones and we receive nothing.’
He added, ‘I have known Aditya for years. It was just a lighthearted joke in a group of friends. I know he is not a Taliban.
The Briton’s defense lawyer said in his emotional closing speech that Aditya’s comments in a “private group” had been made public without any judicial authorization and that if anyone should be held responsible for the cost of the Spanish response it should be the British authorities. for “violating” their right to privacy.’
He added, ‘Aditya did not put his message on Facebook or publicize it. What he did was the equivalent of making a prank in a car with friends.
‘Who has the authority to intervene in a joke? If as individuals we are prevented from enjoying freedom of expression and the right to privacy, what are we left with?
‘This is not a punishable act. There were no bad intentions. This boy was 18 years old and was starting a vacation that was a reward for his academic excellence and when he and his friends landed in Menorca they realized that they were in a nightmare.’
Aditya exclusively told Mail Online when he was back in Orpington with his parents Anand and Dipti Prasad: “It was a crazy moment which I regret and I am very sorry for the trouble I caused.” It was a joke and I didn’t mean anything by it.
“I’m sorry I ruined my friends’ vacation, but it was all just a joke and I didn’t want to scare anyone on the plane if they were scared by what happened.”
‘I sent the Snapchat message to my friends when we were boarding. It was a joke, since we had been saying who was going to be stopped and searched by security.
‘The message said: ‘I’m going to fly this plane.’ I’m a Taliban,’ and now I wish I hadn’t sent him.
“It was kind of stupid, but I figured since it was a private Snapchat, only my friends would see it.”