Darren Rigby, 21, sent three Merseyside schools hoax emails
Darren Rigby, 21, has been jailed(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man who threatened death and serious harm via hoax emails to schools in Merseyside has been jailed. Last month, Merseyside Police received three separate reports that hoax emails had been sent to Holly Lodge Girls’ College in West Derby on Monday, January 19, Greenbank High School in Southport on Friday, January 23 and The Belvidere Academy in Liverpool on Monday, January 26.
Following an investigation police arrested Darren Rigby, 21. Rigby of Worthington Close, in Runcorn, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today, Monday, June 1 to 28 months in prison after admitting three counts of sending communication threatening death or serious harm.
He was also sentenced after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled class B drug (cannabis) and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place (a baton). Rigby was also issued with three restraining orders prohibiting further contact with the schools involved.
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.
“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.”
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