Bomb threat dad ‘wanted more time with his daughter’
AFATHER made ‘bizarre’ hoax bomb threats against a primary school in order to ‘spend more time with his daughter,’ a court heard.
Gary Barnes called police claiming devices had been left at Tonacliffe primary in Whitworth, Rochdale - where his daughter was a pupil - on December 9 last year.
Over 320 students and 45 staff members had to be evacuated as officers carried out a fruitless search.
The 25-year-old made another hoax call against the school four days later and then later phoned staff to say he was coming to collect his daughter and was ‘armed with a gun.’
A victim statement from headteacher Joanne Heap said they had ‘thoughts of Dunblane in their minds’ - a reference to the deadly school massacre in 1996.
Father-of-two Barnes, of Whitworth, pleaded guilty at Burnley Magistrates Court to making bomb threats and threatening calls.
His case was adjourned to Burnley Crown Court as the magistrates’ sentencing powers were ‘insufficient.’
John Didsbury, defending, said Barnes has an ‘issue concerning his ability to have empathy and to understand fully the consequences of his actions.’
He sai: “Mitigating is problematic because when you ask him why he did it he can’t really explain his actions.
“The only motivation appears to be his daughter attends the school and he wanted to spend more time with her.
“In some bizarre fashion that communicated into him doing this in order to have her back home. Certainly the ramifications were extremely serious.
“He does have some history of depression and more recently has been seeking treatment. I don’t think genuinely when he was doing it that he appreciated the seriousness and the consequences.”
Glen Anderton, prosecuting, told the court how the first call caused a ‘great deal of anguish and upset’ and parents had to collect their children.
A second hoax call was made but the school remained open after advice from the police.
The court heard how when the school reopened after the Christmas holidays Barnes called police again stating he was on his way to collect his daughter from the school and was ‘in possession of a gun.’
He then made a ‘similar call’ a week later before ‘laughing after the threat had been made.’
When interviewed by police he claimed one call had been made by another man who ‘had it in for him’ and who was ‘trying to get him in trouble.’
However the voice on all four calls was later identified by police, his partner and a school teacher.
Mrs Heap added that Barnes’s actions had caused ‘significant distress to staff, children and parents’ and had ‘huge financial implications.’
The court was told that the pupils were left ‘extremely scared.’