PUPILS GIVEN CANNABIS COOKIES

THREE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER UNWITTINGLY EATING DRUG HANDED OUT BY STUDENT

THREE school pupils were treated in hospital after a fellow student gave them cookies laced with cannabis.

The teenagers at City of Leicester College, in Evington, fell ill on Thursday and have since recovered.

Police and the school’s leaders have launched an investigation.

The school believes the pupil shared the biscuits within a group of friends. However, the parent of one of the children who was taken to hospital believes they were dished out randomly.

He said his child “turned grey” after eating the food, and had “a really bad couple of days”, but began to feel better over the weekend.

The man said his child was “easily led” and had accepted the cookie from a pupil they were not friends with, and had not known it contained the class B drug.

He said: “I was in tears. My child had no idea this cookie had cannabis in it and ended up in A&E and was put on an ECG machine.

“While we were in the hospital we met the parents of two other children who had become unwell.

“The children seem to have been given these cookies at different times of day.

“As far as we know, the student wasn’t just giving them to friends, it was also random kids like my child.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

Ken Vernon, head teacher at the Downing Drive school, which is now closed for the Easter break, said he and his team were working with police to establish exactly what had happened.

Mr Vernon said: “On Thursday, a student brought home-made biscuits into the college and distributed them to a small number of their friends at lunchtime.

“These biscuits appear to have contained cannabis and the students involved became ill.

“This was an isolated event and our staff were fantastic in ensuring the safety of our students, having recently been on citywide training for how to spot and deal with young people who have consumed drugs.

“We are extremely pleased to hear the students have all recovered and we are currently dealing with the incident in collaboration with the police.”

A police spokesman said: “On Thursday, officers were contacted by a secondary school in Evington reporting that several pupils had fallen ill after eating food that is believed to have contained cannabis.

“Three pupils were taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary as a precaution.

“The school is working closely with police schools officers and substance misuse officers.

“Inquires are ongoing.”

I was in tears. My child had no idea this cookie had cannabis in it and ended up in A&E

Parent