British air scare student hopes to leave US soon

A British student whose “joke” that she was carrying bombs on to a transatlantic flight landed her in a United States jail said tonight she hoped to return home soon.

Samantha Marson, 21, still has to appear in a Miami court on Friday to hear whether the case will be formally dismissed.

At a court hearing today, she agreed to a plea bargain involving a donation of about €804.20 to the families of the victims of the September 11 terror attacks.

Her lawyer, Oscar Sanchez, reached the agreement on her behalf and said she would also have to write a letter of apology for the incident.

Marson told LBC radio: “I am not free yet. I still have a couple of things to do before I know whether I’m free or not. This is not the end yet.”

She added: “Of course I’m very sorry for what I did. At the moment I’m just happy that my father is here with me supporting me and I’m just dreaming to come back home to see my mother (in Poland).

“That’s basically my dream at the moment.”

Marson could have spent up to 15 years in jail for the crime of making a false bomb report.

She had already spent four nights in jail in Miami after being arrested at the city’s international airport.

She was about to board a British Airways flight to London on January 17 when she told an official at a baggage check point: “Hey be careful, I have three bombs in here.”

Asked to repeat herself, she repeated the same statement twice and was arrested and charged.

After being bailed from Miami Dade County Jail four days later, she said she was “really very sorry”.

Mr Sanchez explained the current legal situation to LBC radio tonight. He said: “After we negotiated with the prosecutor they decided to do a programme called a pre-trial diversion.

“We have to go to another programme and basically meet certain specific conditions that the prosecutor wants us to meet.

“Once we meet those conditions this case is put back on the calendar and then we have to go back to court and there’s a possibility that the state attorney will recommend that the case is dismissed.

“The conditions are that she has to make a one thousand dollar (about €804.20) contribution to one of three 9/11 funds and she also has to write a letter of apology that’s acceptable to the state attorney’s office.”

Today’s hearing was in a felony court at the Richard Gerstein Justice Building in Miami before Judge Henry Leyte-Vidal.

Marson’s father, Jim, 74, was in court for the hearing.

If the case is dismissed by the judge on Friday Marson will be free to leave the US immediately, Mr Sanchez said.