A man has been charged over hoax emails sent to three Merseyside schools.
Holly Lodge Girls’ College and The Belvedere Academy in Liverpool as well as Greenbank High School in Southport were all targeted in the space of four days.
West Derby School was also temporarily closed for a day while staff attempted to ascertain the severity of the threat, which police later described as ‘not credible’.
Detectives arrested a 21-year-old man from Runcorn on Wednesday (January 28) in connection with the messages sent to Holly Lodge, Belvedere and Greenbank.
He was detained under suspicion of offences under the Online Safety Act and taken into custody for questioning.
The suspect has now been named as Darren Rigby, who will appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Friday (January 30).
Detective Inspector John Black from Merseyside Police said: “I hope our investigation reassures our communities how seriously we take these reports.
“I would like to take this opportunity to once again reassure parents and carers that schools across Merseyside have well established and practiced procedures to keep children and school staff safe when schools are made aware of potential incidents or threats.
“This work will continue and as a police force we will always look to provide advice to schools if required and carry out enquiries if such incidents occur in the future.”