10-year-old Muslim boy questioned by British Police over spelling mistake, wrote ‘terrorist’ instead of ‘terraced’

Just a simple spelling mistake led this 10-year-old Muslim pupil being interviewed by British police.

The primary school boy who lives in Lacashire meant to write he lived in a ‘terraced house’ but mistakenly wrote ‘terrorist house’ in his English class.

Without realising that it was just a normal spelling mistake made by the boy, his teachers reported the boy to the police. The teachers thought it their duty to report the incident under 2015 Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which states that teachers are obliged to alert the authorities to any suspected terrorist behaviour.

British police grilled the boy the following day and examined the family laptop for any evidence of extremism.

The boy’s family were left shocked at the incident and one of the members even thought of it as a joke initially. Later, his family demanded an apology from the school authorities and police.

“You can imagine it happening to a 30-year-old man, but not to a young child,” she told the BBC. “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” said one of the boy’s cousin.

The school hasn’t commented anything post the incident. Though the Lancashire police said in a statement that the situation was handled by a PC and social services and that anti-terrorism police were not called in.