Legal high drug ‘led to pupils falling ill’

A “LEGAL HIGH” drug may be to blame after 10 pupils fell ill at a secondary school.

Police believe a herbal-based substance could have caused youngsters at the National Church of England Academy in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, to complain of sickness and dizzy spells.

Officers were called to the school last Friday afternoon after the pupils, aged between 11 and 15, started feeling ill.

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Sergeant Simon Scales, of Nottinghamshire Police, said yesterday that officers believe they have identified the substance which may be behind the sickness, adding that the test results were “particularly worrying”.

He said: “Using legal highs as recreational drugs carries risks.

“Users cannot be clear what ingredients are in them and they can cause unpredictable reactions, as seen at the National Academy.”

He added that many legal highs had in fact been found to contain Class C and Class B drugs, making them harmful and illegal.

The children involved have suffered no further ill-effects.

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Police have since been informing the school’s 1,100 pupils of the risks of using legal highs.

The academy’s website states that its aim is to provide “a happy and stimulating environment in which young people can develop and grow”. In February, Ofsted inspectors gave the academy a glowing report in an interim assessment, while the most recent full inspection in 2010 concluded it was a good school.

Dr John Edwards, the academy’s principal, said pupils on their lunch break had been smoking cigarettes “containing a mixture of tobacco and another substance, since identified by police as a ‘legal high’.”

He said two of the pupils had been sent to hospital as a precaution but later recovered enough to go home.

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“Police were invited to support the school’s investigation into the circumstances,” he added.

“With their help, the pupil who had brought the substance into school was quickly identified and appropriate action taken. Any pupils who were involved have been punished and parents informed.”

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