Police charged Down's syndrome boy with mental age of five

When two police officers came to interview Jamie Bauld, a polite, friendly Down’s syndrome boy with a mental age of about 5, he welcomed them with a big smile and a handshake. As the officers read him his rights and charged him with assault and racial abuse, he agreed with everything they said, then thanked them for coming to see him.

A spokeswoman from Down’s Syndrome Scotland said: “I have never met any Down’s syndrome [people] who are racist. This incident should have been contained within the college. It has been very badly handled.”

www.timesonline.co.uk...

Can a mentally 5 year old Down Syndrome kid be a racist? Did the police over react? I think police there should have used some discretion in this case This is just bizarre.

[edit on 17-4-2008 by Master_Wii]