A school in southwest London was thrown into lockdown and police were called following a heated dispute over a pupil's blazer size.
The incident at Harris Academy in Wimbledon last Wednesday involved a Year 9 pupil's mother being locked in the school's reception area during a two-and-a-half hour standoff.
Officers arrived after the 13-year-old called her mother when allegedly being "forced" into an undersized jacket.
The ordeal began when the pupil had mislaid her blazer and wore her Year 7 uniform to school instead. While walking to her second lesson, she was allegedly confronted by a teacher who accused her of lying about not having a jacket.
Harris Academy in Wimbledon
Google Maps
The girl was then reportedly ordered to force on the too-small blazer in front of classmates, which her mother described as "very humiliating".
The mother, 35, immediately called the school and arrived with her partner, demanding a meeting with staff. She claimed a senior staff member initially offered to investigate but quickly retracted this offer.
When the school refused to arrange a meeting with the accused teacher or conduct an immediate probe, the mother refused to leave.
Staff then abandoned the reception area and reportedly locked her inside as she began live-streaming the confrontation on Facebook.
In an extraordinary escalation, the school, which has 1,150 pupils, was plunged into lockdown as eight police officers arrived at around 10.30am.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- 'Sick of it!' Outrage as teachers could 'force' school to close to celebrate Islamic festival of Eid
- Moorland School: Parents fume as £36,000-a-year private school gives TWO DAYS' notice before closing after failing to register pupils for GCSEs
- 'Still abandoned!' Batley Grammar teacher 'living in fear' 4 years on: 'Threw him under the bus!'
The London school went into lockdown
Google Maps
Children were locked in their classrooms as rumours circulated of a major incident involving a parent with a knife.
Concerned parents began gathering at the school gates, demanding answers during the incident. Following interviews with all parties, the parents eventually left at around 2.30pm.
The mother told MailOnline: "I was treated like a US school shooter. It's not acceptable in any way, shape or form. It was just disgusting."
She added: "Being made to put on a very small blazer in front of children is very humiliating. She was saying to him, 'I don't want to put it on' and he was screaming at her aggressively...The blazer is ripped like Hulk Hogan, that's how tight it was."
The mother claimed police questioned why the school had initiated a lockdown, saying she hadn't posed any threat. In an email to parents at 12.45pm, headteacher Joanne Larizadeh wrote: "We briefly implemented our lockdown measures as a precautionary measure."
A second email dismissed rumours about the mother having a knife, stating: "The rumour that a weapon was involved is completely untrue. At no point were students at risk."
The mother has issued a formal complaint and is considering moving her child to another school following the "trauma" experienced. A spokesman for Harris Academy Wimbledon, rated "outstanding" by Ofsted, said: "We cannot comment on individual students or their parents."
The Metropolitan Police confirmed officers attended "reports of a disturbance involving a parent" and that "no further action was taken by police".
