Bomb Scare Mare: Universities in Bomb Hoaxes

Universities across the country were evacuated last week after they were hit with dramatic bomb scares with buildings at Durham, Bristol and UCL among those affected.

Last Monday, an email warning to Bristol read: ‘Two small bombs are hidden in Wills and Durdham Halls. They will explode later today. Take this warning very, very seriously.’ The threats were later believed to be the work of a hoax.

In a co-ordinated attack, Leicester, Essex and Sussex all received similar threats via email. The Metropolitan Police is investigating the motivations behind what appears to be a synchronised hoax at five of the UK’s top universities.

At Durham, the Students’ Union was evacuated, while in Bristol David Cameron’s personal sniffer dogs had to be called to the scene. The PM had been visiting the city earlier that morning.

The reaction in Cambridge has been one of fear mixed with confusion. One Robinson fresher warned The Tab, ‘First Bristol, then Durham, the logical step would to be proceed up the league table to Cambridge’.

In an unrelated incident, students at UCL were also evacuated from exams because of another bomb scare. But in this instance, the bomber’s motives appear to be unrelated to university life.

Unrelated to the uni: UCL’s own bomb scare

And the fears have come the same week as a Cambridge man avoided jail for planting a hoax bomb of his own. Last year, roads had to be closed for 6 hours and some Anglia Ruskin accommodation evacuated when a disgruntled employee placed a homemade fake bomb in his office’s microwave.

The man received a 2 year suspended sentence on Friday.

In the case of the university hoaxes, the perpetrators and their motivation remain unknown and the emails sent to all five institutions have so far proved impossible to trace.

More to follow as cops confirm details.