Christopher Pierson, the sick man who sent a hoax mail to tsunami victim's friends and relatives, has been sentenced today to 6 months in prison.

Spamfo published the article previously entitled 'Man pleads guilty to sick Tsunami hoax emails', in the meantime Scotland Yard was forced to setup a dedicated incident room spending days contacting the friends and families affected by the hoax, at a cost of £10,000.

The BBC has more information on the story here.

He called the offence "a moment of madness" and asked for leniency for his family

A statement from one recipient read: "The suffering that that email caused I cannot explain - not knowing who was telling the truth, it was such a cruel thing to do."

Pierson cried as the court heard how he had set up the bogus email account and falsely announced the deaths: maybe the only good thing to come from this is Pierson at least showing some remorse.

BBC Video news report footage (.asx streaming)