Teen, 18, who threatened to kill students and blow up Stafford college sentenced

An 18-year-old has been sentenced to three years and eleven months in a young offender institution for terror offences after threatening to blow up Stafford College.

Jagger Strang had threatened to kill classmates and had a stash of material capable of making explosives.

He had told other students that he had numerous weapons in September 2025.

Staffordshire Police were contacted by a safeguarding officer from the college.

Strang was arrested after it was reported he had videos of himself torturing cats and he had told people at his college that he was carrying knives and that he had a plan to blow up the college.

He had shown a classmate photos of homemade weapons and discussed an attack on their college, alongside sharing homemade videos of him lighting substances in his garden and kitchen.

During a search of the property, officers seized a number of chemicals along with homemade gunpowder and thermite. A blow pipe was also recovered.

Strang had pleaded guilty to seven offences, including possessing explosive substances, terrorism-related material, and making threats to kill at an earlier hearing on May 6th at Leicester Crown Court.

The teenager was sentenced on Monday, June 29th, at Birmingham Crown Court.

Searches of his devices found a manifesto, written by Strang in 2025, which he said, ‘I am writing this before I do something big something violent maybe serial killing maybe a rampage.’ It went on to describe his desire to be like famous serial killers including the Sandy Hook school shooter.

Strang had told classmates that all he needed to build a bomb was a pressure cooker, at this point he had been testing making explosive powders and had the ingredients capable of making up to 1.3kg of Thermite and 320g of gunpowder.

Searches of the home he was living in also revealed a blowpipe which he had made and tested for accuracy.

His digital devices showed searches for how to make explosives, a ‘bingo card’ of serial killers he admired and messages describing how he was angry with his life and how he worshipped serial killers.

While he had a disturbing mindset, it was not submitted to the court that Strang’s actions were motivated or connected to terrorism.

Further messages showed Strang comparing himself to these killers.

After moving from South Africa to the UK with his parents, Strang is said to have transformed from a ‘nice kid’ to a teenager obsessed with violence. Detective Inspector Dave Rowlands said: “This was a deeply concerning case involving threats that understandably caused significant alarm to the students that Strang talked to and staff at the college.“Thanks to the vigilance of the college’s students and staff and the swift actions of our officers, we were able to intervene quickly and prevent any potential harm.”

Watch the full statement from DI Rowlands:

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