A School student in NSW has admitted to inserting needles into strawberries in what police believe is a copycat prank.
Police in Australia have arrested a young child who admitted to inserting needles into strawberries as part of an apparent prank.
New South Wales Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Stuart Smith would not release further details but said the child had been caught in recent days.
“Obviously in the last few days we found a young person has admitted to a prank, including putting needles in strawberries, and he’ll be dealt with under the youth cautioning system,” he said.
The youngster was earlier widely reported to be a boy, but it is understood Mr Smith misspoke in calling the child “he” during a press conference in Sydney.
The girl placed the needle in a strawberry and showed it to friends at her school in the NSW Blue Mountains, the Daily Telegraph reported. One student told teachers and the police were called. They reportedly interviewed the girl at her home and she eventually confessed.
The behaviour could be “called a prank”, he said, but warned that any copycat cases would be dealt with harshly.
These latest revelations come as the Australian Attorney-General said there had now been more than 100 reported cases of sabotage across the country, with the scare emerging in Queensland and spreading to Tasmania and Western Australia.
Tasmania Police are investigating two more claims of contaminated fruit being sold in Woolworths stores in the Hobart area. The force received a report of a metal object found in a strawberry at Kingston about 6pm on Tuesday.
The 250g punnet of Pinata brand strawberries had been bought from the Kingston Town Woolworths on Sunday.
