Missing boy who sparked massive three-hour hunt 'had never left classroom'

The boy's parents, who did not want to be named, was told by teachers at Holly Lodge High School in Smethwick and the police that his 11-year-old had left class and ran out of school.

The frantic parents enlisted a group of family and friends to search roads, playing fields, ditches and abandoned factories for three hours.

Such was the panic during the three-hour search the boy’s grandmother, who left work early to help look for the 11-year-old, had an anxiety attack.

The father said: “The police and school told us our son was missing, it was every parent's nightmare.

“I managed to get relatives and friends searching for him throughout Smethwick. The police even showed us a picture of him and were sending him messages saying he had been reported missing. I could tell the police were even worried.”

As well as driving around the streets of Smethwick looking for him, his family launched appeals online for information about his whereabouts.

However, three hours into the search on Wednesday the boy was found safe and well in the place his family least expected.

The father said: “I kept phoning the school asking if he had turned up, three hours later they answered and said he had been in class the whole time.

“I was so relieved, but then so angry. How could the police be involved when he was in class all the time?

“Then we were told the confusion happened because a totally different boy had gone missing. Thank God he was found because no-one was looking for him, everyone was looking for my son for no reason.”

When the boy left class he was shocked to see a policeman waiting for him and then saw his phone full of desperate messages from the police, teachers and family.

The father said: “First he thought his parents had died because that is what is in the movies. Then he thought he was in trouble.”

The father remains confused why his son was mistaken for the missing boy when the police showed him a picture of his son.

He said: “The police officer said he has never been so bamboozled in all his career.

“I want answers for my family and the family of the boy who actually went missing but who thought their boy was safe in class when he was wandering the streets of Smethwick.

"My mother was so worried, she had a panic attack for no reason.”

Holly Lodge High School confirmed the mix-up and has taken steps so similar incidents do not happen in the future.

A spokesperson for Holly Lodge High School said: “We have apologised for the error and distress caused and have already reviewed our procedures.

“The school cannot comment further due to student confidentiality.”

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “We received a report of a child going missing from a school in Sandwell on January 4.

“Officers attended and it was established the child was safe and well.”