Man, 36, accused of sending bomb hoax to primary school
A man has been charged with sending a bomb hoax to a primary school in Swindon this week.
James Morgan, 36, had been arrested after a call, made to the office of Badbury Park Primary School, triggered an evacuation of hundreds of pupils, teachers and local residents on Tuesday afternoon.
The caller had claimed there were explosives on the Rainscombe Road premises, but a sweep of the building turned up no suspicious devices.
Mr Morgan, of Rabley Wood in Marlborough, was arrested at home around 8pm that day, hours after the evacuation.
He has now been charged with communicating false information. He appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning.
Superintendent Steve Cox said: ‘Hoax calling is an offence we treat extremely seriously as it draws emergency workers away from legitimate incidents where there is a real risk to people’s lives.
‘The rapid and thorough investigation from my officers demonstrates our intolerance to this sort of criminality.
A 200-metre cordon was set up around the evacuated Badbury Park Primary School (Picture: Daniel Jae Webb / SWNS)
‘Thank you to those who were affected by this incident for your patience while the situation was resolved.
‘We hope the swift progression of this investigation reassures you that we are committed to keeping Wiltshire safe.’
Local residents picking kids up from other schools returned to find hazardous response teams, firefighters, police and a 200-metre cordon blocking off their homes.
Evacuees were sheltered at the nearby Spotted Cow pub while emergency services worked to determine the area was safe.
The primary school confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that staff and pupils were unharmed.
Hundreds of children were evacuated (Picture: SWNS)
They said on Facebook at 3pm: ‘School is being evacuated so please collect children from Biddestone Ave on corner on Belcombe close.
‘EYFS and KS1 at 3pm and KS2 at 3.15. Please collect children who walk from home. Further info to follow. We are all ok.’
The Blue Kite Academy Trust, which runs Badbury Park Primary School added: ‘All the children are safe and parents have been informed.’
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Wiltshire Police said they had sent specialist officers to assist the school in following its emergency evacuation plans.
A local resident, who drove past the school after the evacuation, told Metro there were ‘around 10’ police vehicles at the scene and that roads were blocked off near the local shops.
She added: ‘Everything seemed under control.’
Badbury Park Primary School is an Ofsted ‘Good’ rated which opened in September 2019.
The school welcomes children from Nursery up until Year 6.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
