BOY WITH UKP500 HEROIN IN BAG IS DEALER'S SON

Police were last night understood to be seeking the man in an attempt
to establish how 50 wraps of heroin found their way into the
schoolboy's satchel.

A number of parents of pupils at Craigton Primary School, Glasgow,
kept their children at home yesterday, after a teacher discovered the
heroin in a shoe inside the boy's satchel.

A search was made after he was spotted showing the heroin wraps to
pupils on Monday afternoon. Police later questioned 30 primary seven
pupils.

Another 11-year-old boy, who told police that he had tasted the
heroin, was examined in hospital, but later released without requiring
treatment.

Police said yesterday there was no evidence so far to suggest that the
boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was attempting to sell
the heroin to fellow pupils on behalf of a drug dealer.

The boy was not at school yesterday. A spokesman for Glasgow City
Council emphasised that no decision had yet been made by education
officials on whether the child would be excluded from Craigton Primary.

Teachers, police and parents held an emergency meeting at the school
yesterday. An extensive search failed to uncover any further illegal
substances.

Some parents last night accused the school of not acting quickly
enough to inform them of the incident.

Janet Harris, 40, of Jura Street, who has two children at the school
said: "I felt sick. My youngest would not know the difference between
heroin and sherbet, and a child could have died if they had taken a
high dose of this stuff."

Parents expressed astonishment that the class A drug could find its
way into a primary school. Fears were also voiced that a child could
have died if they had swallowed one of the wraps.

Gaille McCann, the councillor for Cranhill, who founded Mothers
Against Drugs earlier this year after Allan Harper, 13, became
Scotland's youngest heroin overdose victim, expressed shock at the
find. She said: "I am amazed by the quantity found on the boy - it was
a lot, enough to kill the whole class."

The boy's father was not answering the telephone at his Glasgow home
last night. However, neighbours described him as a well-known drugs
dealer. One man, who asked not to be named, said: "We know what he
does, and the police know what he does. Nobody would be surprised if
the boy found the drugs in his own home and took them into school for
his pals."

Anti-drugs campaigners, police and education bosses labelled the
discovery an "isolated incident" and sought to play down fears that
heroin dealers had targeted primary schools.

Last night, Ken Corsar, Glasgow City Council's education director,
wrote to parents in an attempt to reassure them. "I would wish to
stress that this is an isolated incident and the school is operating
normally. There is no cause for concern regarding student welfare."

Andrew Horne, manager of the Glasgow Drugs Crisis Centre, said: "It is
difficult to believe that organised drug dealers were targeting 10-
and 11-year-old pupils. Kids of that age simply don't have access to
that kind of money. It is possible that this boy is being used as a
courier. There are adults who would abuse the naivety of an
11-year-old child, but I don't think heroin is flooding into our
primary schools."

Det Supt Barry Dougall, drugs co-ordinator with Strathclyde Police,
said: "We do not have a situation of heroin dealing in our primary
schools.

"My assessment is that this was a stash found by this young boy and he
was not selling the drugs - he was just showing off to his pals. It is

not part of a wider trend."

David Bryce, co-ordinator of the Glasgow-based anti-drugs project
Calton Athletic, said: "This is isolated. This boy either found some
drug dealers' stash or he took the drugs out of the house.

"Our research shows just 2 per cent of kids in primary schools
admitting they have used drugs. But 60 per cent of them admitted to
taking alcohol," he said.

However, last week a government-funded survey by academics at Glasgow
University revealed how one in ten youngsters had dabbled in illegal
drugs before the age of 12. Of 1,000 schoolchildren aged 11 and 12
questioned from 22 Scottish schools, 100 had taken drugs.

Of those, 6 per cent had tried heroin, 79 per cent cannabis and 15 per
cent LSD. Some children had taken more than one drug.

A third person in four months has died of a suspected drugs overdose
in Alloa. Patrick McCue, 30, who was single and unemployed, died in
Stirling Royal Infirmary yesterday after becoming ill at his mother's
home in Hutton Park, Alloa. It is thought he may have taken an
accidental overdose of cocaine.

The funeral of the second of the two earlier victims, Ralph Young, 40,
took place last Friday. Mr Young, who was also single and jobless, was
found dead of a suspected heroin overdose at his home in Mull Court,
Alloa.

Four months ago, the death of David Wilson, 17, provoked a public
outcry after he overdosed on a cocktail of drugs, including heroin.

Local mothers organised a candlelit vigil and march following David
Wilson's death which was thought to have dented the drugs trade in
Alloa.

Last week, Superintendent Joe Holden appealed for people to turn in
those who were still supplying drugs in the town.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady