Balloon hoax parents jailed

The mother and father behind a hoax that saw the world following a wayward balloon in which their son was feared trapped were jailed today.

Richard Heen (aged 48) received 90 days’ detention, including 60 days’ work release, for fabricating the story.

Meanwhile, his 45-year-old wife, Mayumi, was given 20 days for her role in the scam which was aired live on TV stations across the globe.

Heene said in court that he was “very, very sorry” for lying to rescue workers who chased the balloon for 50 miles in the belief that six-year-old Falcon had crawled inside it shortly before it became loose and took to the skies over Colorado.

Choking back tears, the father told the court: “I do want to reiterate that I'm very, very sorry.”

Imposing sentence, the judge also laid down conditions preventing the couple - who have previously starred in US reality TV programmes – from profiting from the hoax in any way for four years.

Millions of TV viewers around the world were captivated by unfolding drama earlier this year involving the so-called balloon boy.

Over the course of two hours on October 15, police rescue teams and the US National Guard tracked the airborne object, which was shaped like an flying saucer.

It travelled around 50 miles before floating to the ground at which point it was discovered that the youngster was not on board.

Fears that he may have fallen out shortly after take-off were allayed when he turned up a few hours later, apparently after hiding out because he thought his father would be angry.

But suspicions were soon raised that the whole incident was an elaborate stunt.

In an interview with CNN, Falcon was asked why he did not come out of hiding, to which he looked at his father and said: “You said we did this for a show.”

It led to the re-questioning of his parents over the incident and eventual charges against them.