Threatening emails sent to hundreds of schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Italy treated as 'hoaxes'

Threatening emails sent to hundreds of schools across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Italy are being treated as hoaxes, authorities have said.

More than 300 schools in Northern Ireland reported receiving the same emailed message, which contained a threat.

Similar emails were received by 470 schools in Scotland, while hundreds of schools in Italy were evacuated after they were sent threatening messages.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it was treating the email, which originated from outside the UK, as a hoax.

Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said: "We take incidents of this nature very seriously and we understand the concern in the community, school communities and for students and parents.

"Our enquiries are ongoing, however, at this stage we consider risk to the public as low."

Police Scotland said the messages were assessed and they were being treated as hoaxes.

A force spokesperson said: "We understand how distressing messages of this nature can be for pupils, parents, carers and school staff, and the concern they can understandably cause.

"Our advice is that there is no requirement to evacuate schools or keep children away from education based solely on the content of the emails."

It comes as at least 300 schools in Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving a bomb alert, the country's education minister said.

Italian education minister Giuseppe Valditara told the La7 TV channel that the alerts were presumed to be hoaxes.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later posted on social media that the threats posed no danger, adding that police and other public bodies were monitoring the situation.

Ms Meloni said she would chair a meeting at government headquarters to take stock of events and coordinate further action.

A number of schools in Northern Ireland and Scotland were closed last month following hoax bomb threats.

Northern Ireland's Education Authority (EA) said the message sent to its schools had "similarities" with last month's bogus threat.

The EA said it was liaising with police, adding: "At this stage, we have not been made aware of any evidence of any credible threat to schools.

"Investigations are continuing. It is for PSNI to determine the credibility or otherwise of any such message."

The EA advised schools to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to PSNI.

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Police Scotland said its cyber and fraud unit is carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the source of the messages, with officers continuing to liaise with law enforcement partners across the UK and internationally.

The force said in a statement: "They have been sent widely to distribution lists across the UK and Northern Ireland and our assessment remains that they do not represent a credible threat."

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