Rehab not prison for woman who threatened nurseries with knives and guns

Terrified staff gathered children indoors and locked windows and doors while they waited for police to arrive following the calls this week, a court heard.

Eight malicious calls in all were made by Rebecca Cooper, of Park Hill Street, The Buffery, Dudley, on Wednesday.

The nurseries affected were picked at random by the 22 year old, who told police she wanted 'to cause as much upset as possible and frighten people'.

Among the nurseries targeted were Fairytale Day Nursery in Dudley, The Stanmore Day Nursery in Edgbaston, ABC Nursery in Coventry and Sunrise Day Nursery in Sutton Coldfield.

Prosecutor Peter Lawn said Cooper attempted to disguise her voice, pretended to be in a gang and said she was going to go with weapons, including knives and guns, and kill everyone.

He said: "This caused extreme panic and alarm."

Cooper told police she did not know what she would have done had she not been arrested, admitting she had had thoughts of attending the nurseries.

The court heard Cooper had a history of similar offences, including making abusive calls to 999 operators.

In a victim statement, one nursery boss said: "I'm worried for my safety and that of my staff. Everyone is anxious. I've already had a staff member go home today so it affects the service we can give to the children and their families."

Another nursery said they had had to cancel the afternoon session and call parents to pick-up their children.

Mr Antony Schiller, defending, told Birmingham Magistrates yesterday that Cooper, who suffers from Asperger's, had been before the court on 64 occasions in her young life.

"It sounds absolutely horrendous, and indeed it is, but the vast majority of offences are all identical," he said.

"When she loses self-control for whatever reason, she will either phone or send letters of an offensive nature.

"When she is angry or low she will randomly phone people and rant."

He said that his client suffered from low self-esteem with bouts of depression, and could not cope with pressure. She had never carried through with her threats.

Mr Schiller added: "What she did was so amateurish; she used a landline at her home address and did not even attempt to hide her phone number."

Although she has a social worker, little has been done over the years to help Cooper.

"This is a cry for help, she is asking society to help her because she is not getting help otherwise. This is a young lady on a rapidly downward spiral," added Mr Schiller.

Cooper was sentenced to a total of 24 weeks in prison suspended for two years, with a 30-day requirement to attend a rehabilitation and ordered to pay £165 court costs and charges.

David Simmons, Chairman of the Magistrates, said: "We need to protect the public but we also need to rehabilitate you. This is the only reason we haven't sent you to prison forthwith. I'm hoping this will act as a strict warning to you."