Police in playground swoop

An 11-year-old boy who pulled a toy gun on a fellow schoolboy was held in a police cell for three hours. The boy, who told another pupil at the school in Sheerness, Kent to 'Hand over the money!' was nabbed by two policeman who were at the school investigating vandalism issues.

The child was taken to a police station, fingerprinted and gave a DNA sample before being freed. Although his mother has protested, saying the response was 'too severe', Kent Police disagreed, saying: 'The officers acted appropriately.'

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