Police are continuing to question a 76-year-old man after a group of children were allegedly poisoned at a summer camp.
Eight children and one adult were taken to hospital after feeling unwell and have since been discharged.
Emergency services in Leicestershire initially declared a critical incident due to the scale of the situation in Stathern, a village in the Vale of Belvoir around 10 miles north of Melton Mowbray.
The suspect was arrested in a pub car park by officers and is being questioned on suspicion of administering poison/a noxious thing with intent to injure/aggrieve/annoy.
Here The i Paper looks at what is known about the case so far.
Parents left ‘shaken’ after incident
Leicestershire Police said they were initially contacted by a third party on Sunday, 27 July about “children feeling unwell” at Stathern Lodge.
The building is a converted farmhouse in the countryside owned by the Braithwaite Gospel Trust and used by Christian groups for summer camps.
The trust said the lodge had been hired out by a group hosting a holiday camp for children from deprived areas of Nottingham.
Leicestershire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) due to concerns there was a “delay” in responding to the incident.
Police and ambulance services did not deploy to the scene until around 4pm on Monday.
Residents said there was then chaotic scenes with half a dozen ambulances as well as police descended on the village.
A triage centre was set up at nearby Plungar Village Hall where witnesses say around 20 children were brought in.
A 76-year-old man has been arrested over the incident in the village of Stathern (Photo: SWNS)Police said eight children and one adult were subsequently taken to hospital “as a precaution” and have since been discharged.
Parents also began arriving to find their children, and there was some confusion amid claims they were prevented “access” for several hours.
“I saw maybe one girl with her dad,” a neighbour said. “She had her toy with her. They were waiting around a lot.
“It was a bit surreal, a bit odd, because it’s quite quiet around here.
“The parents couldn’t get any access to the kids, that was the weird thing. Just been told they weren’t allowed in basically. I felt for them.
“It was mostly confusion from what I could tell, there were a lot of cars turning up.”
A second resident added: “There must have been about 20 children taken inside [the village hall]. Nobody told us what was going on.
“Then later in the day we saw parents arriving to collect their children. Some of them looked a bit shaken.”
Villager June Grant, 83, said: “I live near the hall and there were so many sirens.
“You could hear the ambulances and police cars whizzing around the village. It was pretty scary, but such good news that the children are okay.”
Another resident said: “It was pretty chaotic with emergency workers running around everywhere. I saw a few children in tears as they walked into the hall.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare – dropping your child at summer camp and then being told they might have been poisoned.”
Suspect arrested in car park
While children were being assessed by medics at Plungar Village Hall, the 76-year-old suspect was arrested just a short distance away in the car park of the Anchor Inn pub.
He cannot be identified for legal reasons.
According to information given to the Charity Commission, the organisation behind the camp says it runs “subsidised holidays at Stathern Lodge or similar places, for children from socially/economically disadvantaged areas of Nottingham.”
The purpose is to “help them make use of their talents to be positive members of their community, gaining self-confidence & cooperative skills; in accordance with Christian principles”.
In previous years, children aged eight to 11 have gone on the trip and enjoyed activities such as den-making, crafts and sports.
The camp is run entirely by volunteers.
The lodge is hired out to Christian groups for holiday camps (Photo: SWNS)It is understood the lodge has its own cooking facilities though parents were told children could bring money to spend in a tuck shop.
One mother, whose son was due to attend the holiday camp this week, told Metro she is not sure what made the children ill.
“We’re not sure it was in the food they served or if it was in the tuck shop they ran,” she said. “They said we were able to send £5 to each child for the tuck shop.”
The lodge remains behind a large police cordon with officers going in and out of the buildings.
Detective Inspector Neil Holden, the senior investigating officer, said: “We understand the concern this incident will have caused to parents, guardians and the surrounding community.
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“Please be reassured that we have several dedicated resources deployed and are working with partner agencies including children’s services to ensure full safeguarding is provided to the children involved.
“This is a complex and sensitive investigation and we will continue to provide updates to both parents and guardians and the public as and when we can.”
An IOPC spokesman said: “We received a conduct referral on Tuesday from Leicestershire Police relating to their handling of concerns passed to them over the wellbeing of a group of children.
“Our assessment team has examined all available evidence and concluded the matter should be independently investigated by the IOPC.
“The investigation will look at whether there were any breaches of professional behaviour – namely a failure to carry out duties and responsibilities – that resulted in a delay in Leicestershire Police’s response to what was later declared a critical incident.”
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