Police probe continues after pupil takes unknown substance at a South Shields school

Emergency services were called just after 3pm on Thursday after a pupil fell unwell within the grounds of St Wilfrid’s RC College in Temple Park Road, South Shields.

An ambulance was sent out to the school and the student was taken to South Tyneside District Hospital in Harton Lane, South Shields.

Northumbria Police said its officers were alerted later that night to the incident - at around 8.15pm.

As yet, the details of the substance, which the student is thought to have taken, are unknown.

Neither the police and the school say they are able to comment on the pupil’s condition,

However, an investigation has been launched by the school and Northumbria Police into the matter.

A spokesman for St Wilfrid’s RC College said: “The safety and welfare of our students is of the highest importance to us.

“We thoroughly investigate any incidents within school but to safeguard children we will not comment on individual students.”

One concerned parent spoke of their shock after the incident took place at the end of the school day.

They said: “I was told one of the pupils had been taken to hospital and I was shocked.

“You just can’t believe something like this would happen on school grounds.”

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “At around 8.15pm on Thursday, police received a report for a concern for pupil at St Wilfrid’s College in South Shields, after a pupil was taken to hospital after taking an unknown substance.”

They added “Inquiries are ongoing at this time to establish the circumstances of the incident.”

A spokesman for North East Ambulance Service said: “We were called to St Wilfrid’s College at 3.06pm following reports of a person unwell.

“We dispatched a double crewed ambulance and one patient was taken to South Tyneside Hospital.”