HSC 2020: Teen charged over North Sydney boys’ email threat
A teenager has been charged after allegedly sending threatening emails and a hoax call to a Sydney school as students prepared to sit HSC exams.
NSW
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A teenager has been charged after allegedly calling and sending copycat email bomb threats to North Sydney Boys’ school during HSC exams last week.
Police arrested the boy at his southern Sydney home about 7am on Wednesday after lengthy investigations into the threats, which disrupted Year 12 students about to sit their HSC exam last Thursday.
The boy, who allegedly spat on a police employee during the arrest, was taken to Kogarah Police Station and charged with using a carriage service to threaten to kill, use carriage service to make a hoax threat and common assault.
He was granted strict conditional bail to appear at a children’s court on Wednesday November 25.
Police will allege in court he sent threatening emails and made a threatening phone call to North Sydney Boys, and believe he was following the lead of other people who disrupted more than 30 schools across the state last Tuesday and Wednesday.
Detective Acting Superintendent Gordon Arbinja of the Cybercrime Squad Command told media the teen was arrested and his property seized thanks to the efforts of a cybercrime strike force that was established to track down the alleged culprit.
“There was computer equipment and various computers seized during the search,” he said.
“Police allege that this hoax threat was a copycat of the first one.
“Threats of this nature have been occurring for many years now.”
Mr Arbinja said they were still investigating the “serious” origins of threatening emails sent last Tuesday and Wednesday that disrupted more than 30 HSC exams over the two days.
He said the offence carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed last week the original email threats came from Eastern Europe, however there has been no additional information on whether that is a reliable location or if it was an individual using an encrypted connection.
“That is a separate inquiry and those inquiries are continuing,” Mr Arbinja said.
Police do not allege the teenager arrested on Wednesday morning is linked to the slew of other emails.
