Girl, 14, caught with £500 worth of heroin at a Greater Manchester school
Almost 100 students were caught with drugs at schools in Greater Manchester
A 14-year-old girl was found to be in possession of £500 worth of heroin at a school in Greater Manchester, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request has shown.
The FoI request by Manchester Evening News indicated two cases of heroin possession at schools in Manchester between 2011 and 2014.
Almost 100 students had been caught on school premises in the region carrying illegal drugs within that time period.
The FoI also referenced a case of a 10-year-old being caught with cannabis and a 16-year-old being stopped while carrying heroin worth £330.
Ninety of the incidents involved people under the age of 18. Overall, 96 of the offences or crimes were for cannabis, while the rest involved amphetamine, cocaine, LSD and heroin. Four were listed as ‘other’.
One of the incidents is believed to involve a cleaner at a Manchester Primary School, who was caught with a quantity of cannabis worth £20.
A GMP spokesman said the figures are “proportionately low” considering they include pupils in every primary school, secondary school and college in Greater Manchester.
However, he said even one person being found in possession of drugs in a school is too many.
“Each individual case is different and it is the policy of Greater Manchester Police not to criminalise young people who are found in possession of small amounts of drugs but to try and understand the reasons for their behaviour.”
“In these circumstances the case is referred to the Youth Offending Service or other authorities to ensure these young people understand the consequences of their actions.
“However, we need to be clear about the nature of organised drug dealing and the extremes of violence that comes with it and there needs to be a strong deterrent to this involved in this. GMP has secured lengthy prison sentences for people involved in this type of criminality and we will continue to seek prosecution for those who aid in the distribution of drugs.”