A 15-year-old boy arrested following a public order incident at a high school in Wales has been released under investigation, North Wales Police have confirmed.
The incident took place at Argoed High School in Bryn-y-Baal, near Mold, Flintshire, on Wednesday, October 21, which led to the school being placed into lockdown. The teenager was subsequently arrested in connection with the incident.
Police Confirm Release
In a statement, a force spokesperson confirmed the boy has been released under investigation. Last week, the force said: “Shortly after 11am we received a report of a public order incident at Argoed High School in Bryn-y-Baal, Flintshire.
“A 15-year-old was arrested in connection with the incident. Officers remained in the area following the incident for reassurance purposes.”
Councillor Calls for Safeguarding Review
Education bosses have since reassured councillors that critical incident procedures to protect the authority's schools are working. During a meeting of Flintshire county council's education and youth overview and scrutiny committee, Flintshire People's Voice Cllr Carolyn Preece called for a review of safeguarding procedures to be brought forward following the lockdown at Argoed School.
Cllr Preece asked whether the annual safeguarding review, scheduled for July 2027, could be brought forward in light of the incident. She said: “We've got safeguarding on the agenda. However, in light of what took place at the Argoed High School, I think that needs bringing forward as soon as possible.
“We do need an update on any safeguarding issues that are taking place, especially in the new school. We need to know what is actually going on and what actions have been taken.”
Assurances from Education Chief
Chief officer for education and youth Claire Homard assured Cllr Preece that existing procedures for managing such incidents and keeping pupils and staff safe had been shown to be working well. She said bringing the report forward would not in itself improve anything.
“Respectfully, Cllr Preece, we present that report on an annual basis to the joint committee of education and health. That's why it is scheduled when it is,” she said.
“You will appreciate there will be incidents regularly in schools that need to be managed. And I think what you need to be assured about in this committee is that the appropriate emergency procedures worked successfully at the school.
“The situation was managed appropriately. It's not really for open discussion, but I can give you the assurance that the schools lockdown procedures worked as we expected them to do.
“The incident was very well managed, the appropriate services were engaged and the matter was successfully concluded in a relatively short space of time. It proved that our emergency critical incident policy worked.”
