A man who admitted sending threatening letters to three schools because of a grievance over his immigration status has been sentenced.

Pirasanthan Logeswaran, 32, of Warden Avenue, Harrow, pleaded guilty to three charges of malicious communications at Hatfield Remand Court yesterday.

The court heard how Logeswaran sent three separate letters containing threats to Watford Grammar School for Girls, Bromet Primary School and Ascot Road Community Free School on Tuesday, April 16.

Hertfordshire Constabulary increased its presence around the three schools and the schools activated their safeguarding procedures.

The letters were received during the school holidays but once staff had opened them, they immediately contacted police.

An investigation was launched and Logeswaran was identified as a suspect before being arrested on Monday, April 29.

He was given an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He has been given a 20-day rehabilitation order and he must pay a £700 fine.

Detective Inspector Jason Finnegan from the Watford Local Crime Unit said: “We always take any reports of this nature extremely seriously and understandably the incident caused considerable worry and upset within the local community.

“We conducted a thorough investigation with the full support of all three schools and a number of other partnership agencies, and this led us to Logeswaran.

“He was motivated to make an extremely ill-judged decision to send those letters in relation to a grievance he had regarding his immigration status.

“Logeswaran’s utterly thoughtless actions have caused a great deal of distress to the families of the children who attend the three schools affected, as well as the staff who work there.

“In order to offer reassurance, officers from the local Safer Neighbourhood Team conducted high-visibility patrols outside the gates of the affected schools in both the mornings and the afternoons.

“Logeswaran has shown a great deal of remorse for his actions and we are satisfied that this is an isolated incident.”

A 38-year-old man from St Albans who was previously arrested in connection with this inquiry was eliminated and released with no further action.