Police were sent to knock on the door of a nine-year-old boy who had been selling air fresheners outside a petrol station to raise money to buy presents for his family.
Donnan McHale wanted enough money to buy Christmas presents for his brother and sister and so bought packs of four air fresheners from a pound shop split them up and sold them for £1 each outside a Tesco petrol station.
But after a call from his school, police officers were sent to investigate, Donnan's mum Alicia has revealed.
She told MEN that in just four weeks standing at the petrol station around the corner from his house, Donnan had earned enough to buy a coat, phone, bike and tracksuit - and his mum bought his siblings' Christmas presents for him.
But then, last Wednesday morning, police knocked on the door and asked to speak to Donnan following a 'complaint' from his primary school Sacred Heart.
"I asked them what the problem was," said Alicia.
"They just said 'we've had a phone call from the school, it's from Sacred Heart, could we come in a minute.'
"They wanted to speak to Donnan and ask what's going on [with the air fresheners]."
Alicia believes a member of staff at Sacred Heart saw Donnan while visiting the petrol station. Another teacher pulled Donnan out of class last week to quiz him.
"I've no idea why," says Alicia.
"It should have been the headteacher, it should have been a discussion between us [his parents] and the headteacher."
Alicia says she saw the member of staff the next day at the school gates and believed the matter was closed.
"[The teacher] didn't tell me what had gone on, he didn't tell me that he had rung police," she added.
Alicia says the two police officers who knocked at her door spoke very briefly to Donnan and didn't seem to have any concerns.
"Donnan explained... the officers were absolutely fine with it," she said.
"They said they would have to pass it on to the care team but they thought he was doing a great job."
In a statement, Greater Manchester Police confirmed their officers were responding to a 'concern for the welfare of a child'.
Alicia then received a call from children's services about the incident.
Alicia said: "I was shocked, I've never had police at my door. We're really proud of Donnan - they should be praising him for doing something like this when we've got children causing havoc on the streets."
Asked if Donnan had been supervised while selling the air fresheners, Alicia said that she had spoken to the manager at Tesco who said they would "keep an eye" on him and that she left her phone number.
"He was only doing it for an hour after school each night before he came home to get his tea," she said.
"It's just round the corner."
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "In January 2022, police received a report of concern for the welfare of a child in the Gorton area.
"Officers attended the child's home address and completed the necessary checks and paperwork."
Suzanne Walker, Headteacher Sacred Heart Primary School, said: "We take the health and wellbeing of our pupils both in school and out very seriously and it is our duty to seek further advice and guidance if concerns are raised with us about the welfare and safety of any of our pupils."
A council spokesperson said: "Whilst it wouldn't be appropriate for us to comment on an individual child's circumstances, we would of course always want to reassure ourselves that appropriate measures were in place to ensure a child or young person's safety and welfare at all times."
A Tesco spokesperson said: “When our colleagues heard that Donnan wanted to raise some money to buy his little sister a Christmas present they were very touched and they made sure he was safe at our store."
