Curtis Woodhouse said that his son was left scared by the ordeal
Curtis Woodhouse now lives in Yorkshire(Image: Michael Steele /Allsport)
A former Birmingham City FC player has slammed his son’s school after the youngster was reportedly given detention following a lockdown.
Curtis Woodhouse says that his son used his phone to let his dad know what was going on following the ordeal at Howden School in Yorkshire.
Pupils reportedly barricaded themselves in classrooms with metal bars during the incident on Friday, November 14.
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A message to parents on social media later confirmed the ‘brief’ lockdown.
However, further updates from the school said “there was no actual threat and was deemed to be a false alarm.”
Mr Woodhouse, whose son attends the school, took to X to share his anger about the scary incident.
He said: “I had the call today no parent ever wants. I was told an intruder had entered my son’s school and the school had been put into lockdown.
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“Everybody is safe and my son is home with me really shaken up. I’m so angry, bless him. Our kids shouldn’t have to live in a world like this.”
The 45-year-old, who played for Birmingham City FC from 2001 to 2003, later said his son was given a detention for using his phone after the incident.
He added: “[His son] has got a detention for using his phone after it was done, he was calling and texting me asking how long I was going to be and he’s got a detention!
“What d******* makes a decision like that! The kid was petrified!”
Mr Woodhouse added: “Everybody is absolutely fine, nobody was harmed at all but when I went to pick him up some of the kids were hysterical and really really upset. You could see they had been through the mill.”
A statement on the school website on Friday confirmed the incident was a false alarm, YorkshireLive reports.
It said: “This morning a lockdown had to be in place for a short period of time. Our lockdown procedures were followed as per our policy.
“A thorough assessment was completed by the authorities and determined that there was no actual threat and was deemed to be a false alarm.”
In their most recent statement, a spokesperson from the school said: “Howden School went into lockdown on Friday because it was reported that there was a possible intruder on site. As always, student safety is paramount, so we immediately enacted out our lockdown protocol, which includes contacting the police.
“The police did a full search and during this process our internal checks identified that it was a student at Howden School, and not an intruder. Such a decision is not made lightly, however given the circumstances it was the right call to make, and this was agreed by the police.
“Senior Staff went round classes immediately after the incident to reassure students and explain what had happened. The students were exemplary and were complimented on their conduct by the police. Today Senior Staff spoke again to students to reassure them, answer any questions and provide support if needed.
“We understand that situations like this can be unsettling and we want to assure you that the safety and wellbeing of our school community is always our highest priority.”
