BOY, 10, FOUND TAKING COCAINE

A 10-year old boy has been taken into care after social workers found out he
had a cocaine habit.

The social workers were ordered to hand the boy over to foster parents after
Leeds magistrates' court heard evidence last week of his "abysmal"
attendance record at school and his drug abuse.

"This case is extremely disturbing," said Keith Murray, Director of Leeds
Social Services. "It is unusual to come across a boy on hard drugs at this
age.

"Courts do not allow us to remove children if there is not enough evidence
to show the welfare and health of the young person is at risk."

A urine sample from the boy revealed the presence of the drug.

Care workers said they could not remember coming across a younger child in
the county who had taken hard drugs.

"As a father I find this extremely worrying," said Mr Murray. "If he were to
experiment too often, he would become addicted."

Officials in Leeds, struggling to control the city's drugs problem, are
worried about the implications that the boy's case raises.

"The really worrying fact is that a person of this age could get access to
this drug," said Mr Murray. "It suggests there are unscrupulous pushers who
couldn't care less whom they damage."

The boy told social workers he had discovered the drugs at home, a claim
police have not been able to prove. Detective Chief Inspector Gerry
Dickinson, head of West Yorkshire drugs squad, said the boy could have died
if the drug was pure.

Last month Allan Harper, a 13-year-old from Glasgow, died from an suspected
heroin overdose.