Boy, 5, in cake run

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | January 27, 2005

[Stoat]

BREAKING NEWS

Boy, 5, in cake run

By SUN ONLINE REPORTER

A PECKISH five-year-old boy slipped unnoticed from his school and took a bus to the local supermarket to buy cake.

Aaran Taylor failed to arouse suspicion as he pushed a trolley taller than him through the Tesco store in East Sussex and it was only after it emerged there was no one to pay for his cakes that he was rumbled.

Aaran managed to evade a child-proof electronic gate at West Hove Infant School and travel one mile on the bus unchallenged despite being described as his mother as having "baby features".

Mum Kerry Smith, 23, said: "I was frantic when I heard he’d disappeared. We scoured the school area, local parks and corner shops but we couldn’t find him anywhere.

"We did not think he would get on a bus. He was missing for about two hours and there were eight or nine teachers out looking for him. I just cannot believe he got all the way there without anyone noticing him."

Governors at the school said staff first became aware of Aaran’s absence during registration after lunch.

Chairman of the governors Jeff White, said: "The pupil had been seen by staff less than half an hour before this. Our procedures kicked in immediately, with staff searching the premises at our school and at the neighbouring junior school, and other staff going straight to the parents’ house to make them aware of the situation.

"We believe the security arrangements at the school are generally sound. We installed the current electrically-controlled school gate in 1999, and are not aware of any problems of this nature since then.

"But we recognise that this incident raises issues about whether the mechanism could be re-designed to stop it happening again. We are reviewing this as a matter of urgency, in consultation with the  LEA’s health and safety experts and with the police."

Mr White said Aaran’s parents were generally happy with the school. Aaran was today back in class.

Mrs Smith said she was disappointed that her son had managed to travel so far without the alarm being raised.
 
She told The Argus newspaper: "He was in his school uniform, he’s not particularly tall and he’s got quite baby features. You wouldn’t think he’s older than he is. None of the security at Tesco spotted him either. They only realised once all his cakes had been swiped through the checkout.

"The checkout girl told him the total amount before she saw there was no one with him to pay. I really can’t believe nobody stopped him in all that time. It’s amazing he even got on the bus in the first place, or knew which stop he needed for Tesco."

No one at Tesco would comment on the incident.

[DeFault User]

How did the kid manage the bus ride without money? A pass? Under 10 for free?

[LasVegasMac]

Pekish lad rumbled...I have to remember some of these terms.

Exactly.

Young lad, tall lad, chubby lad, nice lad........yes.

A Perkish lad.....

Perky Katie.....never mind.

Rumbled.......hope it never happens to me!

LVM

[Stoat]

How did the kid manage the bus ride without money? A pass? Under 10 for free?

According to this page,

Eastbourne Buses Limited - Fares & Tickets - Fares & Zones

a 'child' is charged 70p for bus fare.  However, they don't define what age constitutes a 'child'.  Perhaps extremely young children and infants are allowed to ride free....the fares page doesn't say.

I doubt that he had a pass as the mother seems to indicate that the boy is not used to travelling on buses alone.

A question also arises as to why did the bus driver allow such a young boy on the bus unescorted, without at least asking a few questions of him.  Perhaps the boy got on the bus with other passengers and the driver assumed that he was being looked after.

Unfortunately, the article does not go into this level of detail and we can only guess.

[YankeeinOkieville]

What I want to know is did they let him have the cakes after all that? (since there was no one there with him who had cash and all)

[DeFault User]

I can remember riding on double deckers, all of which had conductors who knew the exact fare from where you got on to your destination. I doubt they have such conductors anymore, someone who would have noticed the kid. (Seems like I heard the double deckers were going to disappear too.)

[annyokie]

I had a neighbor boy who was like that. He was on a first name basis with the garbage collectors and this was in the 80's.

[Stoat]

What I want to know is did they let him have the cakes after all that? (since there was no one there with him who had cash and all)

Since the article states that he was rumbled, we know that he didn't get by with his plan.

I doubt that Tesco or the school allowed him the fruits of his deviousness, as that would have sent the wrong message.

My guess is that his mum makes sure to pack him an extra-size lunch every day from now on so that he won't be tempted to try this again  :-)

[rmh47]

Who was it that said the Americans and the English were two peoples separated by a common language?

Also, I predict this kid will go far. He is obviously a self-starter. (No telling what that term means to the Brits.)

[redheadtoo]

And a little kid could count on some good Samaritan coming along to bring him home.

I'd be as worried about the "good Samaritan" as I would about the kid wandering off.

[beaversmom]

Might make a good children's book--well, on second thought, maybe not.

[RichInOC]

Aaran managed to evade a child-proof electronic gate...

Let me guess...he opens his grandma's prescription bottles for her, too.

[grateful]

I believe Eddie Izzard's routine involved the aristocracy offering peasants the choice of "cake or death". Ring a bell?

[HamiltonJay]

Apathy... that's what is destroying the world.

[steveo]

This one looks like it's topped with cigarette butts.

[Stoat]

Who was it that said the Americans and the English were two peoples separated by a common language?

According to this link, it was George Bernard Shaw

'Two peoples separated by a common language' - About the - George Bernard Shaw quote

Sorry for the delay in my reply   :-)