Ottawa girl planted needles in own Halloween candy, police say

An Ottawa girlplanted sewing needles in her ownHalloween chocolates, prompting a warning to parents in an east endneighbourhoodto check all candy, police now say.

Police warned Tuesday morningthata child bit into a chocolate bar containing a needle but was not injured after trick-or-treating aroundMeadowbrookRoad.

The child's mother called 911 around 10:30 p.m. on Halloween to report the dangerous candyafter finding needles in two more chocolate bars, police said.

Police officers confirmed there wereneedles in the chocolate Monday night, butafter interviewing the girl and her mother on Tuesday, determined the complaint was unfounded. The girl, who is between the ages of 10 and 13, was issued a warning but won't face charges, police said.

"There was no tampering with candy by a stranger,"police tweeted at 11:36 a.m.

Ottawa police are nevertheless continuing to remind parents to check their kids' Halloween hauls.

"The Ottawa Police Service reminds parents to inspect all of their children's candy prior to letting them eat it, and be aware that the wrappers may not appear to have been tampered with. If anything suspicious is found please call police and keep the candy and wrappers."

Parents heeded warning

After police issued the initial warning, parents in the neighbourhood near theintersection of BlairandInnesroads were examining trick-or-treating spoils some even throwing the lot out to avoid any risk.

Vanessa Corkey, a mother who lives in the neighbourhood, said she discussed the police warning with her husband this morning and decided not to keep the candy her 11-year-olddaughter collected while trick-or-treating last night.

"We are going to throw it out," she told CBC News before police issued the update. "It's my daughter's life."

She said it's "awful" that a fun activity for kids has to end with such a grim warning from police.

"It's heartbreaking because kids just want to have fun," she said.

Majority of cases are hoaxes, says experts

Joel Best, the world's leading (and possibly only)authority on poisoned candysays the vast majority ofHalloween candy tampering reports are hoaxes.

The sociology and criminal justice professor at the University of Delaware startedstudying deviant behaviour in the early1970s. At the timethere were a lot of news stories about Halloween candy tampering, but he couldn't think of a reason why someone would do it.

So he started tracking incidents, searchingasfar back as 1958. He still collects datatoday as a hobby.

"I can't find any evidence that any child has been killed or seriouslyhurt by a contaminated treat picked up in the course of trick-or-treating," he said.

"It remains the case that people get excited about this. They get caught up in it. What it teaches you is folklore is really powerful."

Best says in most cases children are behind the incidents.

"Claiming to have received a contaminated treat is a way of getting the concerned attention of adults who are going to treat you respectfully. They're going to treat you like a victim, rather than like a troublemaker," he said.