A five-year-old pupil at Glasgow Academy, one of Scotland’s most prestigious private schools, went to class with cocaine in his bag a few weeks ago, leaving the local community shaken. Teachers discovered the drugs and immediately called police and the child’s parents.
The school charges fees of up to £16,660 per year. 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 pupil at Glasgow Academy went to class with cocaine in his bag, prompting police and family involvement.”
Annemarie Ward, an addiction recovery employee at charity FAVOR UK, told The Scottish Mail the incident 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. If that image does not make us question our relationship with drugs as a society, it is hard to know what will.’
A spokesperson for Glasgow Academy said: ‘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.’
The case echoes a 2021 incident in which 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, because he was under the age of criminal responsibility, was not charged. Experts at the time said it is likely the child, who lives in Cambridgeshire, was made to deliver the drugs for an older relative.