Hoax bomb threats accross the country

[Andrew_C]

Local news reports - MORE than 12 schools have been targeted by hoax bomb threats, including three in Hampshire.

[nathan]

Apparently there's been one in Leicestershire today too.

[elsiegee40]

Minecraft Hoaxer Caused Chaos At Schools Across The UK - CourtNewsUK

 

A teenager has admitted making bomb threats to thousands of schools and a United Airlines flight travelling from the UK to San Francisco. George Duke-Cohan, 19, sparked chaos with his mass hoax campaign which led to 400 schools being evacuated in March this year. Duke-Cohan was arrested but he then sent a mass email to schools in the UK and the US claiming that pipe bombs had been planted on the premises.

[mikes]

I wonder if the boy has autism issues; you could see his bedroom door had "Protected by suchandsuch Security" stickers on it, I wonder if he is obsessed with security or the popos. He's been done for this three times apparently. He should consider himself lucky he isn't being sought out for extradition to the USA for tampering with their flights as I don't think a boy like that would do terribly well in an American penitentiary even if he does get PC'd up.

If I was in his shoes I'd be even more worried about the ass whoopin' I'd get from my parents

Never had any bomb threats here luckily. Any student could easily send an anonymous bomb threat and get away with it if they wanted to.

[hardtailstar]

I wonder if the boy has autism issues; you could see his bedroom door had "Protected by suchandsuch Security" stickers on it, I wonder if he is obsessed with security or the popos. He's been done for this three times apparently. He should consider himself lucky he isn't being sought out for extradition to the USA for tampering with their flights as I don't think a boy like that would do terribly well in an American penitentiary even if he does get PC'd up.

If I was in his shoes I'd be even more worried about the ass whoopin' I'd get from my parents

Never had any bomb threats here luckily. Any student could easily send an anonymous bomb threat and get away with it if they wanted to.

 

I have security stickers on my bedroom door and also ones about bomb squad, doesn't mean im going to be bombing anywhere.

 

If hes done this three times already then im sure the 'ass whoopin' from his parents hasn't stopped him.

[synaesthesia]

That would likely only give him the attention he clearly wants so much.

[Arthur]

Schools bomb hoaxes: Teenager jailed for nationwide threats

 

A teenager who sent thousands of hoax bomb threats to schools and triggered an American airline security scare has been jailed for three years.

 

George Duke-Cohan, 19, sparked nationwide panic and a transatlantic investigation from the bedroom of his home in Watford, Hertfordshire.

 

He pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats.

 

It followed an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

 

Duke-Cohan, of Mutchetts Close, caused widespread panic in March when he emailed more than 1,700 schools, colleges and nurseries across the UK to warn about an explosive. Hundreds of the schools were evacuated.

 

He was arrested days later but in April, he sent another batch of emails to schools in the US and UK while under investigation.

 

The teenager claimed a pipe bomb had been planted on the premises.

 

NCA investigators, working with the FBI, also found that while on bail for the bomb hoaxes, Duke-Cohan had made a fake report of a hijacked US-bound plane via phone calls to San Francisco Airport and police.

 

'Perverted fun'

Jailing him, Judge Richard Foster said: "You knew exactly what you were doing and why you were doing it, and you knew full well the havoc that would follow.

 

"You were playing a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities. You were playing a game for your own perverted sense of fun in full knowledge of the consequences.

 

"The scale of what you did was enormous," he added.

 

His defence barrister said psychology experts had described Duke-Cohen as very immature, but the prosecution said he craved attention from his followers on social media.

 

Marc Horsfall, senior investigating officer with the NCA, said Duke-Cohan had few real friends and spent "a great deal of his time online".

 

He had no previous convictions and lived with his mother and sister.

 

However, he was linked to a cyber-hacker group on Twitter calling itself the Apophis Squad - and developed a number of online aliases.

 

In January 2018, the IT student was expelled from West Herts College for issuing a bomb threat.

 

Police were in the process of organising a community resolution order for his actions when "events overtook them" two months later.

 

His first bomb hoax email was prompted by a disagreement with the owners of VeltPvP, a US-based server that allows users play the game Minecraft.

 

Duke-Cohan was annoyed at not being given access to higher levels within the game, the NCA said.

 

The email warned a student had entered schools with a bomb - and demanded $5,000 to be deposited in VeltPvP's account.

 

More than 400 schools across the UK were evacuated before the email was dismissed as a hoax.

 

Duke-Cohan was arrested at home within two days, and his laptops, USB sticks and mobile phones were seized.

[Lonix]

Local news reports - MORE than 12 schools have been targeted by hoax bomb threats, including three in Hampshire.

 

Just waiting for the whole "This kid obviously has something wrong with him". As if in today's world medical conditions are exempt from dangerous pranks. #NoSympathy for locking him up.

[LeMarchand]

He was arrested days later but in April, he sent another batch of emails to schools in the US and UK while under investigation.

 

He's not that bright, is he?

[Andrew_C]

Just waiting for the whole "This kid obviously has something wrong with him". As if in today's world medical conditions are exempt from dangerous pranks.

Unless you aren't chalky white, in which case you get sent to Guantanamo as a "terrorist" for the same actions.