Teachers feared the brass item was a rifle bullet; police later said it was not

A Muslim boy of seven was reduced to tears when two police cars were sent to his home after teachers mistook a piece of brass that he had taken to school for a bullet.

Police were contacted by St Edward’s Catholic Primary School in Birmingham after a pupil alerted teachers to the boy’s claims that the brass cylinder was “a bullet” for a rifle.

He also told teachers that his teenage brother, who has attended an army cadet course, had held a rifle.

The boy’s mother, who refused officer’s requests to interview the boy, accused the school of “racial profiling” and said it would have reacted differently “had my son been a white kid”.

The school, which has apologised to the family but insists that