AN ABERYSTWYTH man made online threats to kill schoolchildren and police officers and join Islamic State to blow people up, a court heard.

William Michael Paul Parker, 22, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive or menacing message through a public communication network when he left messages on a site on 6 July.

Magistrates heard that Parker made a string of threats when posting comments on Runescape, including claims he had a rifle and was planning to attack a school and kill children.

Prosecutor Steve Davies said Parker, of 26 Cambrian Street, had also made threats against the Cambridge headquarters of Jagex, which runs Runescape, as well as saying that he wanted to join Islamic State to “blow some c**** up”.

Mr Davies said a supervisor at Jagex was concerned about the messages and concerned for the safety of the public as the comments claimed that Parker was a former soldier who had not been taking medication for bipolar disorder following his release from a mental health ward.

The supervisor muted Parker’s account to stop comments being made and checked the account to see if it had been hacked. When it was established that the account belonged to Parker and it had not been hacked, police were called. They tracked down Parker who suggested someone must have used his account.

However, he then sent messages to Jagex criticising the firm for sending “the police to my door” and insisting he had not made comments about joining Islamic State or killing children.

Defence solicitor Stephen Welch said the offence had happened during a difficult time for Parker who was going through family issues after the breakup of a relationship and was taking large amounts of his medication at once. He said Parker was in “a very disturbed state”.

Magistrates imposed a community order for 12 months with 35 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement and a curfew between 8pm and 8am for two months.