The North Shore District Court. Photo / File
The North Shore District Court in Auckland has been evacuated due to a bomb threat.
The threat was received by email on Thursday morning and follows similar emailed threats to schools, courts and religious institutions in recent weeks.
Its wording has not been made public.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson confirmed the court was evacuated after a threat was made.
“In all cases, where an emergency or threatening situation occurs, the courts work with Police to assess the threat and manage it appropriately.
“Protecting the safety of all court users is of paramount importance, however security protocols mean further information on this matter cannot be publicly released.”
A lawyer working at the court said it was cordoned off by police and officers were there in force.
They had been told by court staff it would not reopen until 2pm.
A police spokesperson said they are making inquiries after a phone call and email “of concerning nature”.
“We are working to establish the origin of the correspondence and have yet to establish any actual threat to the organisation, however, the premises were evacuated as a precaution.
“Police are on site and are working with those impacted, as well as providing reassurance and support to those involved.”
It is not immediately clear if other courts are affected.
It is understood the threat also covered tomorrow’s proceedings at the North Shore District Court, a busy court with a wide catchment handling a significant number of first appearances, list hearings, Youth Court matters and sentencings every day. Judge-alone trials are also conducted at the court in Corinthian Dr but it does not have the facilities for jury trials.
The Herald has sought comment from the Ministry of Justice.
This is the latest in the swathe of organisations around the country that have been sent emails “of a concerning nature” over the last three weeks.
Last week, hospitals and places of worship around the country were the target of the threats, which police believe stem from the same source.
On November 23 and 24, police responded after emails were sent to 70 hospitals, schools, courtrooms, and synagogues.
Some schools and courtrooms chose to close after receiving bomb threats.
Police said at the time that the emails were not targeted at any particular community or group.
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