man-76-arrested-1410636

NationalWorld.com

Assistant Chief Constable James Avery addresses the media at Stathern Lodge in Canal Lane near Melton Mowbray, Leics.  July 31, 2025.  A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of poisoning eight children who fell ill at a summer camp.  The youngsters were at Stathern Lodge in Canal Lane near Melton Mowbray, Leics., when they felt sick on Sunday (27/7).  An emergency triage centre was set up in Plungar village hall to assess all the children.  Following an initial assessment, eight children were taken to hospital as a precaution. All the children have since been discharged.  Leicestershire Police launched an investigation and have arrested a 76-year-old man. He was arrested at the camp on suspicion of administering poison/a noxious thing with intent to injure/aggrieve/annoy.  He remains in custody.     Photo released 31/07/2025

Transcript

00:00On Sunday 27th July, a report was received by Leicestershire Police concerning children

00:07feeling unwell at a summer camp in Vanow Lane, Staddon.

00:13Following the report, officers were deployed alongside colleagues from the East Midlands

00:19Ambulance Service to safeguard those children involved.

00:24A triage centre was set up in partnership with East Midlands Ambulance Service to assess

00:30all children present at the camp.

00:34Following an initial assessment, I can confirm eight children were taken to hospital as a

00:41proportion and have all since been discharged.

00:46Officers have been in contact with the parents or the guardians of those children who were

00:52taken to hospital.

00:55I can confirm that a 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of administering poison or a noxious

01:04substance.

01:06He remains in custody at this time.

01:10The investigation is now being led by the East Midlands Specialist Operations Unit Major

01:16investigation team and this will allow a full and thorough investigation to take place with

01:23dedicated resources.

01:28Detectives and uniformed officers remain in the area carrying out further enquiries and

01:34to establish the full circumstances of the incident as well as providing reassurance to

01:40the families and the local community.

01:44This is a complex and sensitive investigation and we do understand the concern that it will

01:52have caused.

01:54Please be reassured that we have dedicated resources deployed and continue to work with a number

02:01of partner agencies as part of our response.

02:06We will provide further updates as and when we are able to do so.

02:12And I would like to remind people that a dedicated major incident public portal has been created.

02:20Details of this can be found on our website.

02:24Thank you and I will take a few questions.

02:26Sarah from the BBC, what symptoms did the children have?

02:30So as you will appreciate we are in the very early stages as what I've described as a complex

02:36investigation.

02:37Other than explaining that they came down with symptoms of feeling unwell, unable to elaborate

02:42any further at this stage.

02:43Can you tell us any more details about the children?

02:45What age were they, where were they from, what were they doing here?

02:49Boys and girls.

02:50So obviously our focus as part of this initial investigation is to show the right care, compassion

02:55and support to all those children involved.

02:57I wouldn't want to comment any further on those details.

03:01So I don't want to compromise any further details within the investigation.

03:04The message alive understands that children were separated from parents for as much as

03:09three hours.

03:10And that's what, what, what's for good they saw police under the OPC response.

03:14Is that true?

03:15So I can't comment any further on that other than to say that on review of our initial police

03:20response, a referral to the independent office for police conduct has been made, but it

03:25would be inappropriate for me to comment any further on that at this stage.

03:28Rajeev from ITV Central.

03:31This has obviously come as a huge shock to children and the parents.

03:33Can you tell us if they're being offered any kind of support or counselling?

03:37So we have specialist officers as part of the overall response that will be engaging

03:42alongside partner agencies with both the children involved and their families.

03:46As I said, their care and ongoing welfare is of the utmost importance.

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