Canadian foils plot to burn down UK school

CANADA/POLITICS - A Montreal university student is being credited with foiling a firebomb attack on a British high school and says he tried to stall the bomber while he tipped off local police in the United Kingdom.

J.P. Neufeld phoned police in Norfolk, England, after he spotted a posting on an online forum Tuesday that threatened to torch Attleborough High School and the nearly 1,000 students inside.

The entry, on the website newgrounds.com, featured a photo of a gasoline jerry can and the message: "Today at 11:30 GMT I will attack my school with arson and other forms of violence. Those bastards will pay."

By calculating the time-zone difference, Neufeld realized the assault was less than an hour away, so he attempted to slow the website member while trying to identify him.

"So you're gonna walk around the school with a gas can?" asked Neufeld, 21, a moderator for the website.

The member flatly replied: "Pretty much."

Meanwhile, with the help of other users surfing the site that morning, the Concordia University student quickly identified the suspect and phoned Norfolk police.

"They took me quite seriously the first time I called them, they didn't even bother to ask 'Who are you? Is this a hoax?'," says the Canadian.

The police force swiftly alerted Attleborough high school, where teachers detained a 16-year-old inside the school office until police officers arrived.

The arrest was made about 40 minutes after Neufeld placed the call. The teenager was caught carrying a knife, matches and a container of flammable liquid inside his bag.

Police confiscated the computer belonging to the teen, who is being held under the Mental Health Act and cannot be identified due to his age.

"Given the fact that he had all that stuff with him it was obviously a very serious incident - or had the potential to be very serious," says investigator John Dack. "I know (the school is) extremely grateful to the young person from Canada who called us."

The police chief in Norfolk, about 170 kilometres northeast of London, plans to send Neufeld a letter thanking his effort.

Neufeld said he had noticed the user on the website many times, mostly because the member's online signature features a still frame from a cafeteria tape of Columbine High School. The image shows the time and date of the 1999 massacre that left 15 people dead - including the two shooters - and 23 wounded. He evidently thought of the Columbine murderers as heroes.

"There's always the risk that it's going to be a waste of time, but I knew I couldn't take the chance since all the school shootings that have happened recently," says Neufeld.

"It's just something you don't fool around with anymore."

Question: Does Attleborough High School have an anti-bullying program that could have prevented this incident entirely?