Hoax Threat Emails Hit Over 300 Northern Ireland Schools
Hundreds of Northern Ireland schools got the same threatening email on Wednesday. Police say it is a hoax that came from outside the UK, and similar messages have been reported in several other countries.
Police: a hoax sent from outside the UK
The Police Service of Northern Ireland says more than 300 schools have reported receiving the same message. Officers are treating it as a hoax. They say the email came from outside the UK.
The Department of Education told schools to stay open unless police advised otherwise. Victoria Primary School in Newtownards, County Down, was evacuated in the morning and reopened about an hour later on departmental guidance.
The Education Authority said the message resembles a bogus threat sent last month. It added that it had seen no evidence of a credible danger to schools. In October, a number of schools did close after an email claimed that an explosive device was inside hundreds of them.
Parents and principals on the day
Carmen Hill, whose daughter is in P3 at Victoria Primary, got a message around 10:00 GMT saying children were being moved to a church close by. She took her daughter home until the all-clear. "It was worrying because it is just not something you want to see from your kids' school," she said.
Rachael Hunt took her six-year-old son out of Rossmar School in Limavady at midday. He attends a special educational needs school.
Chris Donnelly runs St John the Baptist Primary School in Belfast. He said his school also received the email. Staff checked classrooms for anything suspicious and contacted parents, guardians and governors.
The education minister wants a faster way to rule threats out
Education minister Paul Givan held an urgent meeting with police and the Education Authority. He said threats that are not credible should not close schools and must be ruled out much faster. He also wants email systems protected so such messages never reach principals.
Stormont education committee chair Nick Mathison, of Alliance, said protocols worked more quickly than last time. He still raised the risk of repeated attempts to disrupt schooling.
A wider pattern
Police Scotland said threatening messages reached a number of Scottish schools and others across the UK, and that it is treating them as hoaxes. In the Republic of Ireland, An Garda Siochana called the generic message sent to educational establishments not credible and is not advising any of them to evacuate.
Italy's government says more than 6,000 schools there received bomb threats. Education minister Giuseppe Valditara said the incidents are probably a "cyber-attack, not a genuine risk".
Source: BBC News