Mother has son arrested for opening Christmas present

AN American mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for opening his Christmas present early.

Brandi Ervin called the police after discovering the youngster had repeatedly disobeyed her by taking a Nintendo Game Boy from its hiding place at his great-grandmother’s house and playing with it.

Officers in Columbia, South Carolina, handcuffed the boy and took him to the police station on petty larceny charges. Ms Ervin said she had done it to teach him a lesson. “He’s been going through life doing things and getting away with it.”

She said he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but his medicine was not helping. He has been suspended from school since allegedly trying to hit a police officer there last month, and faces an expulsion hearing.

Ms Ervin said she hoped he could attend a programme would stop him misbehaving.

“It’s not even about the Christmas present,” she said. “I only want positive things out of it. There’s no need for him to act this way. I’d rather call (the police) myself than someone else call for him doing something worse than this.”