Wakefield: Mother apologises following son's Qur'an incident

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The Department for Education has told Express.co.uk that the headteacher of a school in Wakefield “followed standard disciplinary procedures” when he suspended four boys for allegedly causing “slight damage” to a copy of the Quran.

Four boys from Kettlethorpe High School were suspended after one of them, an autistic 14-year-old, brought a copy of the Islamic holy book onto the school site as a forfeit for losing a video game. It is alleged the book was “accidentally” dropped and “slight damage” was inflicted as a result.

Police became involved in the episode, recording it as a “non-crime hate incident”.

However, authorities did note that only the book had received only “minor damage”.

The Department for Education told Express.co.uk: “We are aware of the incident that took place at Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield last week and we are offering support to the school at this time. 

“The school followed standard disciplinary procedures in response to this incident. We will always back headteachers to take the appropriate action required to maintain calm and supportive classroom environments.”

The boys’ period of suspension is over today, and the Department is assured that the school acted appropriately when “considering all the known facts” of the incident and “taking the pupils’ views into account” as well as “considering” those views “in light of their age and understanding.”

This comes after sources close to Suella Braverman told the Times that police involvement in the case was “very concerning”.

The mother of the 14-year-old who brought the holy scripture onto the Kettlethorpe site told a local mosque that her son was “absolutely terrified” after he received “death threats”.

She addressed the Jamia Masjid Swafia mosque, as did headteacher Tudor Griffiths, assuring those in attendance that her son had no “malicious intent” when he brought the Quran into school.

She described him as “very very silly” but said due to his autism he “doesn’t always realise what is appropriate and what’s not appropriate”.

The clip was posted on 26 February. The mum said her boy hadn’t “eaten since Wednesday afternoon” because his “anxiety is at a level where he is beside himself”.

Attendees at the mosque were told that “going forward” her son will be doing “more research on Islam”.

Mr Griffiths described the incident as a “very sad day” and a “very serious matter”, assuring the mosque that he “acted quickly” in response.

The Government also told Express.co.uk that it is “considering the issue of recording non-crime hate incidents to make sure that police are using their time most effectively”.

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