Pupils as young as nine had drugs
Police dealt with 2,600 cases, data shows
DRUGS: Children as young as nine have been found with drugs on UK school premises, an investigation has found.
More than 2,600 cases involving drugs on school grounds were reported to police in England and Wales between 2016 and 2019, according to data released under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.
CHILDREN AS young as nine have been found with drugs on UK school premises, an investigation has found.
More than 2,600 cases involving drugs on school grounds were reported to police in England and Wales between 2016 and 2019, according to data released under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.
The overwhelming majority of cases involved cannabis, the most widely used illegal drug in the country, according to the NHS.
Other drugs included Class A substances cocaine, heroin and ecstasy substitute MDMA.
From the two Yorkshire police forces which responded to the request, there were 92 recorded cases of drugs found on people on school premises between 2016 and 2019.
North Yorkshire Police recorded 59 such incidents, while Humberside had 33 reports.
Three children in Humberside aged between nine and 12 were found with suspected drugs, although one force outside Yorkshire, in Wales, confirmed a child aged nine had been found with a Class B substance.
The majority of UK cases involved possession of drugs on school premises, but there were other cases of supply – a more serious offence – as well as drugs trafficking, a key indicator of “county lines” activity. Headteachers said it is “rare” for
drugs to be brought on to school premises, but added that schools are concerned about young people being coerced into dealing by gangs.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School
Schools are concerned about the spread of county lines gangs.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders. and College Leaders, said: “Most young people do not take drugs, and it is rare for them to be brought on to school premises.
“However, like much else, trends reflect what is happening more widely, and schools are particularly concerned about the sinister spread of the drugs trade by so-called ‘county lines’ gangs, in which vulnerable young people are coerced into dealing.”
In total, 2,643 incidents involving drugs in school were reported to police in England and Wales between January 2016 and December 2019, figures from 23 constabularies who responded to an FoI request with relevant and comparable data show.
There were also 589 incidents reported to police in 2016, rising to 666 the following year. Another 637 incidents were reported in 2018, rising to 751 last year – an increase of 27.5 per cent on 2016.
The true picture is likely to be far higher, however, as some of the country’s biggest police forces, such as West Yorkshire Police, did not provide information.
According to the police forces with relevant data, 15-year-old children were most commonly involved in drugs-related offences on school premises (262 incidents), slightly above 14-year-olds (229 incidents). But Gwent Police also had details of a nine-year-old being caught with cannabis in a primary school in 2017. At least 200 incidents involved people aged 18 and older, rather than children.