Jeremy Garnier, 51, pleaded guilty to making a terrorist threat – but insists that he had been “in character” and had not intended to threaten anyone.

A judge in University City, Missouri imposed a suspended one-year sentence on Mr Garnier and placed him on probation, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The probation conditions include that Mr Garnier cannot appear in public wearing a costume or face make-up.

Mr Garnier told the Post-Dispatch that he had learned from the experience to “think before you act”.

“No matter how trivial and joking I thought it was, people took it seriously,” he said.