A man who sent hoax emails to three Merseyside schools has been jailed.
Darren Rigby admitted to three counts of sending communication threatening death of serious harm to the schools across the region in January this year.
He targeted Holly Lodge Girls’ College and The Belvidere Academy in Liverpool as well as Southport’s Greenbank High in a seven-day period.
The 21-year-old from Runcorn appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday (June 1) in connection with the hoaxes and a further two seperate charges.
Rigby received a 28-month prison sentence as well as restraining orders preventing him from contacting the schools targeted in his campaign.
He was also sentenced to possession of cannabis and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place which was revealed to be a baton.
Detective Chief Inspector John Black said: “I sincerely hope that our investigation and the arrest of Rigby only days after the third incident was reported shows how extremely seriously we take these reports.
“Rigby clearly intended to cause fear and alarm not only for staff and children at the three schools, but also parents and the wider community.
“This will never be tolerated and as soon as we received these reports we carried out a thorough investigation which identified Rigby as the suspect.
“He had no option but to admit what he’d done after the evidence we were able to gather.
“He thought he could hide behind his keyboard and there would be no consequences, but it wasn’t long before he was in handcuffs and sat in the back of a police car.”