Police in Miastko, in Pomerania, are investigating after four children found sharp metal objects in candy collected on Halloween. One of the girls cut her tongue and was taken to hospital; no one has been detained.
The case was reported on Tuesday, 3 November, by the press officer of the Bytów police, Senior Assistant Inspector (mł. asp.) Dawid Łaszcz. As reported by, among others, RMF FM and TVN24, the investigation is being supervised by the prosecutor’s office on the charge of exposing a person to immediate danger of loss of life or serious bodily harm. This offence carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.
What happened in the Miastko commune
The police first received a report from the parents of children who took part in a Halloween party in one of the villages of the Miastko commune on Saturday, 31 October. The children were given candy by unknown people.
According to the spokesperson, two 10-year-old girls felt metal pieces while eating. One of them cut her tongue, and her parents took her to hospital. “Tests showed no serious injuries,” Łaszcz said.
During the inquiry, officers learned of two more children: a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, who also found sharp metal objects in sweets. The children’s guardians were questioned, and the candy was secured. The children cannot say who gave them the sweets. According to police, no one has been detained or charged in the case.
Similar reports in other regions
According to „Rzeczpospolita”, similar reports emerged in Greater Poland, in Gowarzewo in the Poznań county and Bolewice in the Nowy Tomyśl county. Parents reportedly found pins and nails in toffees. The report from Bolewice was confirmed by the Nowy Tomyśl police, and according to Głos Wielkopolski, it was the only such case in the entire county. In the case of Gowarzewo, as Codzienny Poznań reported, the police had not received an official notification.
RMF FM described an incident in Lower Silesia: in the Ząbkowice Śląskie county, parents found a blade, probably from a pencil sharpener, in a candy. Chief Inspector Przemysław Ratajczyk of the Lower Silesian Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław said police were trying to identify the perpetrator. Meanwhile, o2.pl wrote that police in Sulęcin had not received any report, although online posts described a child being injured.
It has not yet been established whether the individual cases are connected. Some of the information comes from social media posts that have not yet been confirmed by the authorities.
What it means for parents
Police urge parents to carefully inspect every piece of candy collected on Halloween before giving it to their children. Damaged or oddly wrapped packages and signs of puncturing should raise concern. According to Codzienny Poznań, checking with a magnet does not guarantee safety, because not every metal is attracted to magnets. Suspicious sweets should not be eaten, and any finding should be reported to the emergency number 112 or to the nearest police station, keeping the candy and its wrapper.
If a child complains of pain in the mouth or throat, or may have swallowed a metal object, parents should contact a doctor. The issue of student safety and dangerous objects has also come up in the debate about schools. We wrote about this in the context of the Ministry of Education’s (MEN) plans to allow the confiscation of “suspicious” items.
At the time of publication, police had not said what kind of metal objects were found in Miastko or how many homes the children visited.
