Bomb threat called in to campus

An anonymous individual made a phone call to the University of Sussex around 7.45am on Friday 5th of June claiming that there was a bomb on campus. They told the University that the device was in Falmer House or the Sports Centre, where examinations were due to commence at 9.30am. All examinations began on time.

In correspondence with The Badger Online, Sussex Police confirmed that they received a phone call from the University shortly before 8am on Friday morning. A spokesman commented that, “We cooperated with the University to ensure that the threat was dealt with appropriately and according to the correct guidelines, and identified the threat as a hoax caller.” They added that,  “These incidents are always taken seriously, although they seem to occur more frequently at exam times.”

Despite confirmation of the incident from Sussex Police, the University Press and Communications Office were unable to comment on specifically how the incident was dealt with. In e-mail correspondence at 11.30am, they refused to acknowledge that this had taken place, stating that, “…there has been no security breach and no bomb threat on campus today (Fri 5 June).” This was stated despite the fact that staff coming to work were told that they were not allowed into the buildings because of that reason.

As such, it is unknown whether guidelines described in the University’s ‘Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan’ that refers to building incidents such as a fires, terrorist threats or serious burglaries were followed correctly.

Examinations scheduled for 9.30am in the University sports hall were ‘Equity and Trusts’ and ‘Equity and Trusts for CPE’, with a duration of two and a quarter hours; ‘Networks’, with a duration of one and a half hours, and ‘Political Sociology’, with a duration of one hour. Examinations scheduled for 9.30 am in Mandela Hall were ‘Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Philosophy’, with a duration of three hours, and ‘Reproduction, Self and Society’, with a duration of two hours. The University reported that all exams began at the scheduled time.