Pupil freed over asylum seeker death

13 April 2012

A 12-year-old boy arrested in connection with the death of a Somalian refugee has been released from custody, police said today.

A Crown Office spokesman said the boy was released pending the result of further investigations by the procurator fiscal.

He was arrested yesterday following an alleged incident at All Saints Secondary School in Glasgow.

A Crown Office spokesman said the procurator fiscal had received a report from Strathclyde Police over the death of 11-year-old Suhail Saleh.

"A 12-year-old boy has been liberated from custody pending the result of further inquiries that have been instructed by the procurator fiscal," he said.

The spokesman said that no child under 13 could be prosecuted without the express authority of the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC.

He added: "Once the results of the further inquiries instructed by the procurator fiscal are available, including the results of further medical tests and a detailed consideration of witness statements, a decision will be taken on the most appropriate course of action.

"The options available to the Crown include a prosecution, taking no further proceedings or referral of the 12-year-old boy to the reporter to the Children's Panel."

Pupils at Suhail Saleh's school were saying prayers today for the young boy's memory.

Floral tributes were also pinned to the gates of the school, where Suhail was in the first year.

The 11-year-old died after an alleged incident in the school dining hall at 11.30am yesterday.

Suhail had been living with his mother, brother and aunt at the Red Road flats close to the school in the Barmulloch area of the city, after the family fled Mogadishu.

He was taken to nearby Stobhill Hospital after the incident but was later pronounced dead.

Yesterday, school head Thomas McDonald wrote a letter to parents informing them of the tragedy.

Pupils are also to be offered counselling to deal with the shock of yesterday's events.

About one in 10 of the school's 909 pupils are either asylum seekers or refugees who have had their asylum claims approved.

All Saints has 67 asylum-seeker students and 23 pupils who have been granted refugee status.

Up to 14 nationalities study at the school, including Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans and eastern European children.

Glasgow City Council said the boy and his family had lived in Glasgow as refugees for three-and-a-half years.

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