Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Boy, 14, arrested after bomb threat forces Birmingham school to evacuate

Unnamed schoolboy is detained after being spotted on CCTV making the hoax call

Caroline Mortimer
Thursday 28 January 2016 17:57 EST
Great Barr School in Birmingham
Great Barr School in Birmingham (Google Street View)

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested following a bomb hoax which lead to a school being evacuated.

The unnamed schoolboy was detained after the security scare at Great Barr secondary school in Birmingham on Wednesday.

The hoax call was traced to a nearby phone box and CCTV footage identified the boy as a suspect, the Birmingham Mail reports.

It is not thought to be linked to the wave of other bomb threats on Tuesday which saw 14 schools in the West Midlands, London and Cornwall being evacuated.

Inspector Noeleen Murrin, from Birmingham Police said: “These kinds of offences are not only a drain on police, council and school resources but they also waste the time of pupils who should be receiving their education

“We take reports like this very seriously and have acted quickly to identify the person we believe is responsible.”

It follows bomb threats forcing four secondary schools in neighbouring Dudley to close last week with thousands of children being evacuated.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in