KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – The Child Development Agency (CDA) says it has intervened in a case in which a seven-year-old student is accused of attempting to poison teachers and students of a primary school in St Mary.

The principal of the school, Irvin Rose, said that the student had been reprimanded by a teacher last Thursday and returned to the school the following day, sprinkling Gramoxone – a highly-poisonous pesticide – on food items.

The authorities said that the bottle of the poison had been discovered after it fell from the student’s schoolbag as he attempted to leave the school.

The CDA, which is responsible for children in need of care and protection, said the student has been referred to the Child Guidance Clinic in the parish for a psychological assessment and that a CDA officer also met with the student, his family and teachers.

Under the Child Care and Protection Act, a child below the age of 12 accused of a criminal offence cannot be charged, but a court could rule that there is need cared supervision and protection.