Schools evacuated across Scotland and Northern Ireland after nearly 800 receive 'bomb threats' in second wave of suspicious emails

The Daily Mail opens by telling readers that nearly 800 schools were evacuated, when its own figures show that nearly 800 received the hoax email. Several councils it quotes say their schools stayed open, and police said there was no need to evacuate. The article gives no count of schools actually evacuated.

1. Uses figures that mislead

   Serious

   “Nearly 800 schools were evacuated across the country today”

   Why this matters

   The words 'Nearly 800 schools were evacuated' turn the number of schools that received the email into the number that were evacuated.

   The impression it gives

   A reader believes about 800 schools were cleared of pupils today.

   The context

   The article's own figures are for schools that received the email: more than 470 in Scotland and at least 300 in Northern Ireland. Several councils quoted in the same article say their schools stayed open or carried on as normal, and police advised there was no need to evacuate. The article gives no count of schools actually evacuated.

   How we know

   • Elsewhere in the article“More than 470 schools in Scotland were understood to have received a threatening email”
   • Elsewhere in the article“At least 300 schools in Northern Ireland also received the email”
   • Elsewhere in the article“Schools in West Lothian are therefore not closed.”
   • Elsewhere in the article“Schools will continue to operate as normal.”
   • Anadolu Agency (English) reported“Over 300 schools to date have reported to police receiving the same emailed message which contained a threat”Hundreds of schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland receive threatening emails (opens in a new tab)

   Written straight

   Nearly 800 schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland received a hoax bomb threat by email today, and some were evacuated as a precaution, although police said there was no need to close.