Josemaria Miguel Ye Yong Qiang, 40, had earlier pleaded guilty to five charges under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Regulations, which carries a fine of up to $100,000 and/or a jail term of up to five years on each charge. Sixteen other charges were considered.

Ye, who has degrees in political studies and business administration from British and New Zeland universities, was found to be suffering from a major depressive disorder at the time of the offences.

A Community Court heard that the unemployed man, who recently started work as a property telemarketer, sent a series of bomb hoax and rocket launch attack emails to American and European airlines and the White House, Pentagon and US embassies between Sept 6 and 27 last year.

He would go to internet cafes to send the hoax emails to the airlines' management using a fictitious name.

He even went to an internet cafe in Johor Baru last Sept 13 to send a message to the Pentagon about crashing a plane in the next few days, causing the Pentagon to beef up its security measures.

Two days earlier, he had sent a hoax message to the White House on the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 incident, claiming that the Al-Qaeda would be launching rocket attacks on the White House to 'mark the glorious events of 11th September''.

Following information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, police here carried out extensive inquiries and established Ye to be the culprit.

In court, Ye, who was represented by Mr Peter Fernando, said he had committed a very serious offence and hoped the court would give him a chance.

He told Community Court judge May Mesenas that he was prepared to continue with his medication and seek psychotherapy after his release from prison.