Two people have been arrested after 17 teenage girls fell ill after eating drug-infused sweets at a Catholic high school in north London.
A 41-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis and child neglect after the schoolgirls started vomiting and feeling dizzy at La Sainte Union school in Highgate.
The man was taken to a north London police station and was released on bail to a date in November, while the woman is currently in custody at a North London Police Station.
Parents have been warned about these ‘super potent’ edibles (left) which supposedly contain 600mg of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, as they are designed to look like real children’s sweets (right)
Police were called by London Ambulance Service at around 11:45hrs on Monday, 5 October, to reports of children feeling ill.
As a precaution, 17 children were taken to hospital. Initially, this was reported as 13 children but a further four became unwell. Their parents were informed. Nobody was found to be seriously unwell.
The Met confirmed the sweets contained high levels of THC – the active component in cannabis – and it is now understood the drug was designed to look like Nerds Rope sweets, which are available to buy online.
The ambulance service was called shortly before midday and thirteen teenagers were taken to hospital as a precaution when they became unwell after eating ‘sweets’
Police in Camden are carrying out tests to see how much THC was placed in each of the sweets
The medicated ‘Nerds Rope Bites’ come in brightly-coloured packaging that implies they are aimed at children but actually contain potent levels of THC.
The packet states they contain 600mg of the psychoactive chemical and have a ’60-minute activation time’.
An average joint is reported to contain about 12mg of THC according to scientific studies.
It is part of an increasing trend as youths are buying edibles from dealers online for as little as £42, according to one investigation.
They can be bought in different colours and drug potencies and are easy to mistake for normal Nerd sweets.
Paramedics descended on La Sainte Union Catholic School in Highgate, Camden, on Monday morning, amid claims students had fallen ill after eating sweets during their morning break.
Some of the girls are thought to have spent the night at a hospital in Barnet, with the school asking parents to obtain a ‘written statement,’ on how the drug-laced sweets were brought into school.
The girls are thought to have headed back to class, where they reported feeling dizzy, while some vomited.
Pictures showed a row of ambulances and first responder vehicles parked outside the main building opposite Hampstead Heath.
One witness told MailOnline they saw ‘girls outside the ambulances crying and one throwing up’.
An ambulance leaving La Sainte Union Catholic School in Highgate, north London, Monday
In a letter seen by the MailOnline, headteacher Sophie Fegan wrote: ‘We are working with the police to identify the origin of the ‘sweets’.
‘Once your daughter has recovered, I will need her to tell us how she came into possession of the ‘sweets’ and what she thought they were.
‘I am sure you will be asking her these questions too: it would be most helpful if you would ask your daughter to prepare a written statement for me.
‘We already know the name of the student who brought the sweets in, but we need to know more about how and why they were shared.’
The pupils were treated at the scene after suffering from a ‘sugar rush’ and taken to hospital but police said none were believed to be ‘seriously unwell’.
In August, a warning was issued to parents after North Yorkshire police raided properties in Harrogate and found large supplies of the edibles as well as weapons, drugs, money, phones and cash.
The move was part of Operation Needle, which is looking to smash dealers in the upmarket town half an hour north of Leeds.
Meanwhile, officers in Bradford confiscated a huge supply of Nerds sweets, which were also stuffed with cannabis.
La Sainte Union School, pictured, has sent letters to parents asking for written statements from the students detailing how the THC-laced sweets made their way onto school grounds
And in July a teenager girl had to be taken to hospital in Castleford, near Wakefield, after she ate Nerds Rope infused with amphetamine.
This morning, La Sainte Union Catholic School issued a statement saying the students had recovered.
It read: ‘We are relieved that the students who were hospitalised on Monday are now all fine – thank you to all who have been helpful and supportive.’
Shocked dad Nsimba, 55, whose daughter attends the school, said everyone had ‘panicked’ when the news broke yesterday morning.
Nsimba, a business student, told The Sun Online: ‘It’s very sad, and this incident worries me.
‘But now the students know that these things are not good for them. They have to avoid doing it.’
But Nsimba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, said he was happy with the school’s response adding: ‘It’s a very good school. They look after the children well.
‘Every time something happens, they communicate with the parents immediately.’
La Sainte Union, which has 1,032 students aged 11 to 18, was rated ‘good’ in a 2019 Ofsted report.
Police outside La Sainte Union Catholic School in Highgate, Camden, where 13 teenage schoolgirls fell ill
A police officer attends La Sainte Union following the use illegal THC edible ‘sweets’
The 159-year-old school counts singer Tulisa and Harry Potter actress Imelda Staunton among its alumni.
Public Health England’s London head of alcohol, drugs and tobacco Alison Keating told Ham and High: ‘We have been notified of a situation in Camden where a number of school pupils ingested Tetrahydrocannabinol or ‘THC’ which is the psychoactive element of cannabis that causes a high.
‘It is an illegal drug and can be dangerous, so this situation is of concern.’
The 159-year-old school was rated ‘good’ in a 2019 Ofsted report and has a strict behavioural policy
Today nearby Camden School for Girls warned students of the psychoactive sweets, packaged as Nerds, with head teacher Elizabeth Kitcatt informing parents of symptoms including ‘nausea, hyperactivity, elevated heart rates and hallucinations’.
Ms Kitcatt wrote: ‘We have alerted students to this matter and the dangers of consuming any such product.’Do please let us know if you see or hear of these items being in circulation among students, and, of course, if your child has any of these take them away immediately’, reports Ham and High.
Investigation continues. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or tweet @MetCC and quote CAD 4524/5Oct.