A teenaged schoolgirl was arrested by British police for racism after she refused to sit with a group of Asian students as some of them did not speak English.
LONDON: A teenaged schoolgirl was arrested by British police for racism after she refused to sit with a group of Asian students as some of them did not speak English, but was later released without being charged.
Codie Stott, 14, at Harrop Fold High School in Worsley, Greater Manchester, accused the school and police of an over-the-top reaction.
The teenager said that she had not been in school the day before due to a hospital appointment and had missed the start of the project, so the teacher allocated her a group to sit with. "She said I had to sit there with five Asian pupils," Codie said on Thursday.
"Only one could speak English, so she had to tell that one what to do so she could explain in their language. Then she sat me with them and said discuss," Codie added.
According to Codie, the five, four boys and a girl, then began talking in a language she didn't understand, thought to be Urdu, so she went to speak to the teacher.
"I said I'm not being funny, but can I change groups because I can't understand them? But she started shouting and screaming, saying it's racist, you're going to get done by the police," Codie said.
Codie said that she was put in isolation for the rest of the day. A complaint was made to a police officer, and more than a week after the incident on September 26 she was taken to a police station and placed under arrest.
"They told me to take my laces out of my shoes and remove my jewellery, and I had my fingerprints and photograph taken," said Codie adding "It was awful."
After questioning on suspicion of committing a racial public order offence, Codie's mother Nicola said "she was placed in a bare cell for three and a half hours then released without charge."
"She only returned to lessons this week and has been put in a different science class," she added.
The incident happened in the same local education authority where a ten-year-old boy was prosecuted earlier this year for calling a school friend racist names in the playground, a move branded by a judge political correctness gone mad.
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