Boy, 12, suspended for 'crisp dealing' in school that banned junk food

Contraband: Joel Bradley was punished for selling a packet of Discos

A schoolboy has been suspended for 'crisp dealing' at a school which has banned fatty drinks and snacks.

In sign of pupil disgruntlement over school meal reforms spearheaded by TV chef Jamie Oliver, 12-year-old Joel Bradley was caught allegedly selling a packet of Discos at a marked-up price of 50p.

He was suspended from Liverpool's Cardinal Heenan High School because it was the second time he had been caught.

His father, Joe, said the boy had been 'victimised' for an enterprise which could earn him as much as £15 a day.

'I think the school has made a beeline for him because of what I've done,' he told the Liverpool Echo.

Mr Bradley, from Liverpool's Norris Green district, admitted he too had once been caught selling canned drinks, chocolate bars and crisps from a van outside the school - saying he was filling a void left by the closure of a local shop.

But headmaster Dave Forshaw said parents and pupils must abide by the school rules or go elsewhere.

'We are a healthy school and proud of it,' he said.

'If parents are not happy then they are perfectly free to take their children to a school that allows pupils to sell these things and allows a father to sell them outside on the pavement.'

Mr Forshaw said pupils were caught around 'three or four times a week' selling snacks at the school.

'We have six to seven regular sellers we pinpoint', he said.