Did police in the United Kingdom arrest an 11-year-old child in August 2024 for posting "mean tweets"? No, that's not true: Authorities in Cleveland, England, told Lead Stories, "We haven't arrested an 11-year-old for sending mean tweets." One 11-year-old suspect was taken into custody for arson, while another was detained for "violent disorder."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on August 28, 2024. The post's caption said:
BREAKING: British police have just arrested an 11 year old over his 'mean tweets' posted on social media.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Aug 29 15:55:34 2024 UTC)
The same social media account cited a Sky News report to support its implication that police in the United Kingdom detained an 11-year-old in August 2024 for posting "mean tweets." However, the news article made no mention of so-called "mean tweets," but instead said the child was arrested "over disorder." The post, also published on August 28, 2024, appears below:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Aug 29 16:43:04 2024 UTC)
U.K. riots
The "disorder in Middlesbrough" mentioned in the Sky News post above involved far-right riots and anti-immigration protests (archived here) in the United Kingdom following a mass stabbing in Southport, England, on July 29, 2024, in which three girls died.
Cleveland Police
In an August 29, 2024, email to Lead Stories, Emma James, a corporate communications officer with the Cleveland Police in England, denied the assertion in the social media post. She said:
We haven't arrested an 11-year-old for sending mean tweets.
An 11-year-old has been arrested and released on bail for arson in Hartlepool and another 11-year-old has been arrested and bailed for violent disorder in Middlesbrough.
Mean tweets
The "mean tweets" expression involving the arrests and violence may have originated on a "PARODY/SATIRE" account on X, formerly Twitter, called Sandford Police. The post published on August 28, 2024, comes with this caption (emphasis ours):
We have arrested the youngest person yet over the unrest in Middlesborough--a 9-year-old
He was picked up for posting mean tweets online like dozens of other suspects who've since been sent to prison
After this morning's arrests, Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Robinson, in charge of the operation to catch the Middlesbrough disorder suspects, said: 'The message is "You haven't got away with it"'
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Thu Aug 29 19:47:47 2024 UTC)
The Sandford Police account describes itself this way (emphasis ours):
England's smallest Police Farce, committed to catching crinimals & a swan. Don't report crime. Emergency? Yes📞999 | No📞101 (PARODY/SATIRE) #TheGreaterGood
The agency's logo reads "Sandford Constabulary," a likely reference to the fictional police force featured in the 2007 action comedy "Hot Fuzz." A Fandom page dedicated to the faux agency shows the same emblem.
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims about Southport, England, are here.
