A British man who threatened to kill 200 people in the US in posts he made under a false name on Facebook has been jailed for more than two years.

Reece Elliott, 24, of Foss Way, South Shields, made the threat in February on online memorial pages for two Tennessee girls killed in car accidents.

About 3,000 pupils in Warren County missed school the next day as a result.

Elliott, who pleaded guilty at Newcastle Crown Court in April, was jailed for two years and four months.

The father of one admitted one count of making a threat to kill and eight of sending grossly offensive messages. He had been held in custody since his arrest in February.

Elliott targeted a tribute page to 17-year-old Caitlin Talley, a popular pupil at Warren County High, who had died in a car accident in October.

He also posted comments on the tribute site of a 15-year-old girl who cannot be named.

Schools 'lockdown'
Using a false name, he wrote on the RIP Caitlin Talley page: "My father has three guns. I'm planning on killing him first and putting him in a dumpster.

"Then I'm taking the motor and I'm going in fast. I'm gonna kill hopefully at least 200 before I kill myself. So you want to tell the deputy, I'm on my way."

He added: "I'm killing 200 people minimum at school. I will be on CNN."

At his first appearance at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court in February, Gary Buckley, prosecuting, said: "The residents of Warren County and all the people who have access to the Facebook page were clearly concerned.

"I am told that the local authority immediately put all the local schools in the area on what was called lockdown.

"Because of the hysteria caused, around 3,000 children were kept off school on that specific day."

Sentencing Elliott to 28 months in jail, Judge James Goss QC, the Recorder of Newcastle, told him the offences were driven by "no more than self-indulgent nastiness".

The judge took into account Elliott's early guilty plea and genuine remorse.

Two months before Elliott posted the threats, 20 children and six adults were shot and killed at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Rocket_Launcher wrote:
Because he is a complete arsehole !!

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
What the HELL is wrong with people!

 daedalus wrote:

Rocket_Launcher wrote:
Because he is a complete arsehole !!

I thought you guys locked up all the rude ones already. Seriously, I thought that was a thing.

Experiment 626 wrote:

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
What the HELL is wrong with people!

a) Lots of people out there are stupid, ignorant, self-absorbed dill-holes.

b) Stupid people think a computer/the internet gives them complete anonymity and thus they can play-out their sick, disgusting fantasies while avoiding any consequences.

c) Stupid people forget that especially on public sites/social media, it's pretty damn easy for police cybercrimes units to trace their IP address and charge them with said criminal acts!