Footage shows teen making explosives at home

Footage showing a teenager experimenting with explosives at his home has been released, after he was sentenced for threatening to bomb his college and kill fellow students.

Jagger Strang, 18, was detained for three years and 11 months in a young offender institution on Monday, after admitting possessing explosive substances and threatening to bomb Stafford College.

Police had found explosives at the teenager's home in Stafford in September.

Strang also admitted accessing material on YouTube about the manufacture of gunpowder and how to make an improvised detonator.

Three video clips have now been released via Staffordshire Police, showing Strang making explosives at his home.

One shows him in his garden with a lighter as he leans down and ignites a pile of powder on a plate on the grass.

It quickly catches light in an explosion of flames, causing him to jump back, startled.

In another, a lit match is engulfed in flames on a kitchen sink, with the picture jolting as Strang tries to bat out the fire.

The third shows the teenager lighting a white powdered substance on a plate, which quickly erupts into strong flames and smoke.

A sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday heard that the 18-year-old had "idolised serial killers" and had "a disturbing fixation with violence".

However, the defence said his main intention had been to try and impress other students and had no intention of actually building a bomb.

Staffordshire Police said officers first became aware of Strang when they were contacted by a safeguarding officer at Stafford College.

The court heard how the then 17-year-old, who was studying woodwork at the college, told other students he had numerous weapons and had planned how he would blow up a classroom.

He was arrested at his home the following day, and officers undertook a search of the property.

Strang's mobile phone was also examined and officers discovered internet searches and videos relating to serial killers, including sharing images on Snapchat of Norwegian domestic terrorist Anders Breivik and the person responsible for a massacre in Crimea.

A spokesperson for Stafford College said that following the conclusion of the court proceedings, they wanted "to reassure our college community that the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is our absolute priority".

"We take any threat to our college community with the utmost seriousness," they added.

"I wish to express my sincere thanks to the students who first raised the alarm and my gratitude to the staff whose rapid, decisive intervention allowed the authorities to take immediate action.

"We remain thankful for the prompt, professional response from Staffordshire Police."

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