Boy (15) held after threat to bomb school, stab pupils

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy was arrested by gardaí after he threatened to blow up his school and “slit throats” of other students in the name of terror group Isil.

The boy, who attends a school in south Dublin, made two manic 999 phone calls to emergency services at lunchtime yesterday.

“In the 999 calls, he claimed he was going to blow up the school, that he was armed with a knife and he was going to slit throats in the school,” a senior source told the Irish Independent.

“He claimed he was working on behalf of terror organisation Isil, which was obviously a course of major concern.”

The emergency calls led to a massive Garda alert as armed officers from Sundrive Road garda station arrested the suspect at the school at 1.40pm yesterday.

This was just 10 minutes after gardaí had been alerted to the shocking phone calls to emergency services.

“Officers in that locality have an excellent relationship with the school and that is what enabled the situation to be resolved so quickly,” a senior source said.

“This meant that the school never had to go into lockdown or anything like that and the situation was resolved in a very quick manner. In fact, most people in the school would have been unaware about what unfolded there at lunchtime.”

Detectives arrested the boy and brought him to Sundrive Road garda station, where he was being questioned last night in the presence of his mother.

His mobile phone has been seized and officers searched his Dublin 8 home last night, where they trawled through his bedroom in the search for other devices and information linking him to Isil.

However, it is understood that gardaí do not believe the male teenager has any links to the terror group and may be suffering from psychological issues. It is understood the boy and his mother are fully co-operating with the investigation.

The teen is being questioned for making threatening phone calls and is expected to be diverted to a Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme if he is deemed suitable for it.

It is not known what action the south Dublin school will take against the teenager who was not previously known to gardaí. The boy was not armed when he was arrested by detectives who quickly brought him away from the large school.

Isil, known as Islamic State, is considered the world’s most extreme terror organisation and has been known to recruit teenagers as young as 15 across Europe.