World

Child investigated for saying he lived in 'terrorist house'

11:42 am on 21 January 2016

A 10-year-old boy has been investigated by UK police for saying he lived in a "terrorist house".

His family said it was an innocent spelling mistake made during an English lesson at his Lancashire school, and that he meant to write "terraced house".

They are demanding an apology from the authorities.

But the police denied it was just a spelling error that led to their action, though said they were not taking the matter further.

Police and crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw said that other worrying issues were raised in the boy's school work - not just the "terrorist" house line - and these were "reported through the appropriate channels."

"In the event there was no further action needed, but if the school and police had not acted then they would have been failing in their duty to respond to concerns," he said.

The boy's cousin, who, in order to protect the boy's identity, will not be named, said she initially thought it was all a "joke".

"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. He's now scared of writing, using his imagination.

"From what he says he wrote it because he was trying to write 'terraced house' and he misspelt it."

- BBC