A YOUNG girl managed to poison 20 of her classmates after handing round the nicotine spray she was prescribed at school.
The 12-year-old girl, a pupil at Wolstanton High School, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in Staffs, was prescribed the nicotine spray by health workers after she became addicted to smoking.
But when she brought in the Nicorette mouth spray to school, it was passed around a group of year seven and eight pupils at lunchtime last Wednesday.
Frantic parents then received calls to say 20 of the youngsters had been violently sick.
The pupils who tried the spray suffered vomiting, dizziness and headaches. One needed hospital treatment.
One unnamed mother – whose 12-year-old son was among those who felt unwell – said: "When he was collected he was extremely pale, holding on to the rail outside and some of the others had been sick.
"He's suffered a toxic overdose. Apparently 20 children were affected."
Alan Aston, principal of Wolstanton High School, has described the incident as a "one-off" and said teachers acted swiftly to inform parents about what had happened.
He said: "The spray was shared with other pupils and they became nauseous. We have dealt with the pupil involved using our own sanctions.
"We already have procedures in place to protect pupils but unfortunately this was a prank that went wrong."
Mr Aston also defended the school's decision to signpost children to the NHS's Time to Quit, where the pupil was prescribed the Nicorette spray.
Ian Saberton, Time to Quit service manager, said staff had followed the proper procedures when prescribing the spray to the young girl.
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