A five-year-old student at one of Scotland’s most prestigious private schools walked into class with cocaine in his bag, prompting a police investigation and leaving the local community shaken.
Teachers at Glasgow Academy – which charges fees of up to £16,660 a year – discovered the drugs a few weeks ago and immediately called police and the child’s parents. A source close to the investigation said: ‘We dread to think what might have happened had the child accidentally tasted the substance or even shared it with others. The outcome could have been devastating. We all hope the school board and management team are taking the matter seriously.’
“A five-year-old boy brought cocaine into Glasgow Academy, one of Scotland's most prestigious private schools.”
The incident has sparked fresh concerns about society’s casual attitude to the drug. Annemarie Ward, an addiction recovery employee at charity FAVOR UK, told The Scottish Mail it should be a ‘wake-up call’. ‘For too long, cocaine has enjoyed a strange social respectability in Britain. People who would never dream of injecting heroin or smoking crack think nothing of taking cocaine at weekends and dinner parties,’ she said. ‘Somewhere along the way, we stopped treating it as a dangerous drug and started treating it as a lifestyle accessory.’
‘A five-year-old child should never be carrying cocaine into a classroom,’ Ward added. ‘If that image does not make us question our relationship with drugs as a society, it is hard to know what will.’
The school declined to comment on the specifics, with a spokesperson saying: ‘We do not comment on matters relating to individual children, in order to protect their privacy and welfare. Where any concern is raised, we act on it promptly and work closely with families and the relevant authorities to keep every child in our care safe.’
It is not the first time a young child has been caught up in a drug incident. In 2021, a nine-year-old boy was arrested and accused of being ‘Britain’s youngest crack-cocaine dealer’. The primary school student was picked up for possession of the Class A drug with the intent to supply but was not charged because he was under the age of criminal responsibility. Experts said at the time that it was likely the child, who lives in Cambridgeshire, was made to deliver the drugs for an older relative.