AN African businessman who sparked terror by strapping a fake bomb to himself and marching into a company headquarters has been sentenced to a four and a half year jail term.

But he has been found not guilty of making threats to kill three employees and falsely imprisoning them.

Jean Claude Rubagire targeted St Helens metal analysis firm Alfred H Knight International last March after a failed $600,000 mineral deal.

The 35-year-old Rwandan was found guilty of committing a bomb hoax by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court who delivered their verdict this morning.

He was cleared of four other charges.

News of the verdict was filtering through to staff at the St Helens company today.

Rubagire has already spent 11 months in custody and this will count towards his jail term.

It raises the possibility of the bomb hoaxer being released within the next two years if he is granted parole.

During a two-week trial jurors were told the terrifying actions of Rubagire led to 200 staff at the premises off Prescot Road being evacuated.

Police negotiators were called in to talk to him during a siege lasting almost six hours.

Three employees who had remained inside were released after an hour.

After Rubagire agreed to give himself up, army disposal experts called to the major incident found that the "bomb" just contained underpants and socks.

Prosecutors say Rubagire travelled to the company's head office from Africa after the mineral, tantalite he had bought turned out to be worthless and he blamed Alfred H Knight who had analysed it.

Jailing Rubagire, Judge Bryn Holloway said: “You created a realistic explosive device meant to frighten anyone who saw it, as a result of that looking for publicity for your cause.

“Publicity so as to enable you to get satisfaction you wouldn’t get in other ways.

“But at the end of the day this was a very serious offence, particularly in the climate in which we live in now, because you knew what was likely to be stored at that facility.

“Clearly the people most closely involved did their best to placate and assist you.

“I bear in mind you have no convictions in your past and you had a grievance against these people.”

Judge Holloway added there “is a huge background to the case” and “there is no doubt that along” the line he was the victim of a “serious fraud”, though he did not point the finger of blame at any party.

He continued: “I have little doubt that you planned this whole approach to resolve the issue in advance of coming to this country.”

The jury of eight women and four men returned after several hours of deliberations to deliver their verdict.

In a statement released following the verdict, Chief Superintendent Chris Armitt, St Helen's Area Commander - who was the first officer at the scene on the day of the armed siege, said: "This was an extremely serious situation and we note the court result today.

"We mounted a multi-agency emergency response as soon as the alarm was raised.

"At all times public safety was the key priority. We are very grateful for the calm and understanding response from those directly affected, including the staff and the public who were in the area.

"The swift action of Alfred H Knight, and their speedy evacuation of the premises is testimony to the well-practised emergency response processes of the company involved.

"This was a fantastic example of a textbook emergency response to a highly unusual situation.

"Praise needs to be given to everyone involved.

"Emergency response procedures are vital no matter how large or small a company is.

"Key to any emergency response is training. Merseyside Police regularly train for a wide range of potential incidents and to make sure we are confident enough to cope, no matter what the situation is.

"With public safety being of paramount importance, we continually work with other emergency services and authorities across the region to strengthen our existing plans for a wide range of contingencies."