School Bomb Hoax

Two schools in Guernsey have been evacuated after a bomb scare which turned out to be a hoax.

Hundreds of pupils at La Mare de Carteret Primary and High Schools were rushed out of the buildings after a man rang the school at just after 9.30am claiming a 'device' had been planted at the buildings.

Police scrambled to the scene and at the height of the operation around 50 officers were helping with the search for the device, with off-duty officers being drafted in to help.

The reason this particular call was taken so seriously was that it came from an adult, not a child.

The scare came right in the middle of the GCSE exam period, though no exams were due to take place at the high school today.

Education heads took the decision to close the schools for the rest of the day and parents were informed they could pick their children up. One parent told us it had been a 'scary' experience.

Police announced this afternoon that the incident had been a bomb hoax.

Sergeant Martin Harris said: "It is unusual and you have to take the call on the merits of what you are told. Clearly the safety of the children is paramount. Yes there's been disruption and we apologise for that, but I'm sure the parents would rather have the children safe and a couple of hours of disruption rather than something go on that we can't control."

Headteacher Ken Wheeler said: "I have been in constant contact with the senior managers and they and the pupils have obviously done the job properly. They've been out on the tennis court and the back field well away from the buildings as have indeed the primary school children."

Although today's bomb scare turned out to be a hoax, the police will now begin a criminal investigation to find the person who made the call.


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