British police speak to Muslim boy, 10, over spelling error

A simple spelling mistake has led to a 10-year-old Muslim boy being interviewed by British police over suspected links to terrorism, The Guardian reported.

The boy, who lives in Accrington in Lancashire, wrote in his primary school English class that he lived in a "terrorist house". He meant to write "terraced house".

His teachers did not realize it was a spelling error and instead reported the boy to the police, in accordance with the 2015 Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which states that teachers are obliged to alert the authorities to any suspected terrorist behavior.

As a result, the child was interviewed on 7 December by police and the authorities examined a laptop found at his family home.

His family has since demanded the school and police apologise.

A cousin of the boy, who has not been named to protect his identity, said his relatives initially thought it was a joke, but that the boy had been traumatised by the experience.

"You can imagine it happening to a 30-year-old man, but not to a young child," she said. "If the teacher had any concerns it should have been about his spelling.

"They shouldn’t be putting a child through this," she added.

Source: MENA