Police were called to a primary school after a boy aged just FIVE-YEARS-OLD was caught with two large knives in his bag.
Officers attended St Joseph’s Catholic Academy, in Leicester, last Monday afternoon (4/12) after the blades were found at the end of the school day by another pupil.
It is understood the youngster had taken them out of a washing up bowl at home before bringing them into lessons without his parents knowledge.
Leicestershire Police tweeted shocking images of the large knives and said it “lucky nobody had been injured.”
A force spokeswoman said: “We were called to a school on Monday December 4 following a report that a pupil had taken knives into school.
“A local officer has spoken to the child in the company of his parents and advised him of the very serious consequences of his actions.
“We are liaising with the school following the incident.
“In October last year, the force launched a knife crime campaign, Lives Not Knives, which aimed to educate young people on the dangers and consequences of carrying knives, part of the campaign involved officers visiting schools.”
Spinney Hills Police tweeted from their @LPSpinneyWard account: “These two knives were taken into a city primary school by a 5yr old. Lucky nobody was injured and safeguarding process in place for the child. #livesNotKnifes #ourduty”.
However, the school has since said “the child had no malicious intent” and the situation was “quickly identified and resolved”.
They also accused police of taking an “innocent and non-malicious incident” out of context.
A statement from the school said :”On Monday 4th December, a very young student at the school,without his family’s knowledge,took two kitchen knives out of the kitchen washing up bowl put them into his school bag and brought them into school.
“The knives remained in his school bag until the end of the school day, when they were discovered by another pupil who alerted a member of staff.
“In line with the schools rigourous safeguarding procedures, the school immediately notified Leicester City Council’s Safeguarding duty team,and in line with best practice the Leicestershire Police.
“After a thorough review of the circumstances and in consultation with Leicestershire Police, Leicester City Council Safeguarding duty team, and the child’s parents it was clear that this was an innocent error on the part of the child, and that there was no malicious intent.
“All regulatory bodies agreed that the school had dealt with the incident completely in line with best practice,and that this presented no ongoing child protection concerns, and that no further action was required.
“As the incident appeared to be a one-off error on the part of the child, and that as the parents of all the children directly affected had been informed, an assessment was made as to whether it was correct to report the incident to all parents.
“In considering the child’s emotional wellbeing it was decided that,in this instance,there would be no educational nor child protection benefits in discussing this child’s error in the public domain.
“Many parents will empathise with the anxiety that this situation has caused to the young child and his family
“On Tuesday of this week, as part of a wider safety campaign related to knife safety the Leicestershire Police ‘Tweeted’ an image of the knives and information which identified the school.
“They subsequently deleted the Tweet, and the police have apologised for their error in identifying the school resulting in this innocent and non-malicious incident to be taken out of context.
“It is important for the school to contextualise this issue,and all parents are being notified of the circumstances by letter, whilst as far as possible protecting the individual child’s identity.
“Although this is a one-off error made by a very young child, the head teacher and the senior staff are on hand to answer any questions, and clarify any concerns that parents may have.”
