A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of poisoning at least eight children at a summer camp in rural Leicestershire, England. Police said they received a report of children feeling unwell at the Stathern Lodge summer camp, the BBC reports. The man was arrested at the camp "on suspicion of administering poison/a noxious thing with intent to injure/aggrieve/annoy," police said in a news release. "He remains in custody at this time."
"A triage centre was set up in partnership with the East Midlands Ambulance Service at Plungar village hall to assess all children present at the camp," police said in a statement. "Following an initial assessment, eight children were taken to hospital as a precaution and have all since been discharged." The scene was pretty chaotic with emergency workers running around everywhere. I saw a few children in tears as they walked into the hall," a village resident tells the Telegraph. "It's like every parent's worst nightmare, dropping your child at summer camp and then being told they might have been poisoned."
Police have not disclosed the ages of the children, nor what the alleged poison was. "This is a complex and sensitive investigation and we do understand the concern that it will have caused," a police spokesman said Thursday, per Sky News. The Leicestershire police force said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct "due to the circumstances of the initial police response" to "what was later declared a critical incident," the Telegraph reports. Police said the report of sick children was received Sunday, but officers were not sent to the scene until Monday.
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