A 10-year-old Muslim boy at a Lancashire school was interrogated by the police after making a spelling error in an essay he wrote. Instead of writing that he lived in a “terraced house”, he wrote he lived in a “terrorist house”. The next day the police arrived at his home to interview him and investigate. They searched the house and confiscated the family laptop.

The boy’s family were shocked and asked for an apology from both the school and police. “If the teacher had any concerns it should have been about his spelling,” said a relative of the family who states that the child is scared of writing and using his imagination.

Following a BBC report on the incident that questioned whether the British police were going too far, U.K. Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw was critical of the reports and stated that the case had not been treated as a terror incident based on schoolwork alone. Grunshaw claims that other worrying issues – beyond the spelling mistake – had also lead to the investigation.

“In the event there was no further action needed, but if the school and police had not acted then they would have been failing in their duty to respond to concerns,” said Grunshaw.

Since July, British teachers have been legally obliged to report any suspected terrorist activity and behavior to police as part of Britain’s Prevent anti-radicalization strategy as listed in the 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act.

On his part the U.K. Muslim Council Assistant Secretary-General Miqdaad Versi said that the incident was just one of dozens that has caused muslim students to be treated as potential terorrists in Britain.