US police handcuff five-year-old girl

[MIKE BURN]

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(BBC) Last Updated: Saturday, 23 April, 2005, 03:05 GMT 04:05 UK



US police handcuff five-year-old girl



A lawyer has threatened to sue police officers who handcuffed an allegedly uncontrollable five-year-old after she acted up at a Florida kindergarten.



The officers were called by the school after a teacher and assistant principal failed to calm down the little girl.



The incident was caught on a video camera which was rolling in the classroom as part of a self-improvement exercise at the St Petersburg school.



A lawyer for the girl's mother said the episode was "incomprehensible".



The video, made public by the lawyer this week, shows the unfolding of the violent tantrum, which started when the little girl refused to take part in a maths lesson.



She then ripped some papers off a bulletin board and started punching whoever tried to calm her down.



After calling her mother and learning she would not be able to pick up the child for at least one more hour, the teachers resorted to calling the police.



Three officers rushed to the scene, and apparently oblivious to the fact they were dealing with a child, handcuffed the screaming girl by pinning her arms behind her back.



They finally drove her to her mother in the back of a police cruiser.



The St Petersburg Police Department declined to comment on the incident and said an investigation was under way.

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