Man who sent hoax death threats to schools jailed

A man who admitted sending a number of threatening hoax emails to three girls schools, threatening to target pupils and staff over the "misgendering" of trans girls, has been jailed.

Darren Rigby, of Worthington Close, Runcorn, admitted three counts of sending communication threatening death or serious harm.

Rigby, who identified in one threat as a trans woman, targeted Holly Lodge Girl's College in Liverpool, Greenbank High School in Southport and later The Belvedere Academy in Princes Park in Liverpool in January.

The 21-year-old was jailed for two years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court.

Warning: This article includes details that some readers may find distressing

The court was told Rigby sent three emails in the same week to the three single-sex schools about targeting female pupils and staff who he claimed were "misgendering" trans girls.

In the email to Holly Lodge on 19 January, he said he was "inside the school, hiding with a sword and crossbow", adding that he was "going to injure and kill as many girls as I can" and anyone who "tries to stop me will also be shot".

On 23 January, he sent a message to Greenbank, saying he on his way "to the school with a revolver and machete".

He said he was "going to shoot and stab all of your girls", adding that "you TERFS" [an acronym of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist which has been used as a derogatory term against women opposed to gender ideology] were "going to learn to stop mocking and misgendering transwomen like me".

He also said if anyone attempted to stop him, he would kill them and release poison into the school.

He then emailed Belvedere Academy three days after that, stating that he was "going to kill every girl and woman staff member I come across".

As a result, all three schools implemented security protocols, with Belvedere being placed into lockdown and Holly Lodge, cancelling outdoor lessons and locking all doors and windows.

The court was told staff and pupils at all the schools were visibly upset and the threats caused much disruption.

Greenbank headteacher Davina Aspinall said about 30 pupils did not attend school the day after the threat was made and some parents had considered home schooling as a result of the threat.

She added that the school's youngest students were particularly affected.

"It was terrifying for them," she said.

"They were crying and asking if they were going to be harmed."

Holly Lodge head teacher Andy Kean said the school saw a 5% drop in attendance.

It was a "very upsetting experience for all students", he said, adding: "We had several parents who were reluctant to send their daughters into school in the days after."

Julie Taylor, the executive principal of Belvedere said it had been highly distressing, particularly for vulnerable and SEND pupils, and "knowing someone who wishes to cause staff a pupils harm lives nearby continues to be concerning for all affected".

The police said Rigby was arrested shortly after the third email was sent.

Rigby admitted the charges, along with possession of cannabis and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place.

Sentencing him, Recorder Eric Lamb said although Rigby pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, his actions had been a "planned and sophisticated plot" which had included measures to make it harder for the police to trace the sender of the emails.

He said he agreed with the defence submissions that Rigby was a heavy user of cannabis and alcohol and was immature and noted that the 21-year-old had internal struggles that made him impulsive, but it must also be considered that Rigby had previous convictions including an assault in 2018 and had refused to provide medical information during two psychiatric reports.

In addition to the custodial sentence, the judge also issued him with three restraining orders prohibiting further contact with the schools involved.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Ch Insp John Black said Rigby "clearly intended to cause fear and alarm not only for staff and children at the three schools, but also parents and the wider community".

"This will never be tolerated and as soon as we received these reports, we carried out a thorough investigation," he said.

He said Rigby "had no option but to admit what he'd done after the evidence we were able to gather.

"He thought he could hide behind his keyboard and there would be no consequences, but it wasn't long before he was in handcuffs and sat in the back of a police car," he added.

Update 17 June: This article was originally published without including key details about this case, due to miscommunication between BBC reporters in court and the writers. We have updated the article to explain that these threats were directed at three all-girls' schools, related to the "misgendering" of trans girls and that Darren Rigby identified in one threat as a trans woman.

We have also included further details from these communications which referred to TERFs, targeting female pupils and staff and included threats to use bladed weapons, a crossbow, a revolver, and poison.

Separately, we have also added reaction from senior leaders at all three schools, in which they explain the fear, disruption and upset caused by these threats to pupils, parents and staff.

We have also included comments from Recorder Eric Lamb during sentencing that despite Rigby's guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, this was a "planned and sophisticated plot" which included measures to make him harder to trace, and the Recorder's references to defence submissions which included Rigby's heavy use of cannabis and alcohol, immaturity, previous convictions and refusals to provide medical information for two psychiatric reports.

We apologise for the failures in our reporting.

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