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LONDON, Aug 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A 76-year-old man appeared in a British court on Saturday accused of lacing sweets with sedatives and causing several children to fall unwell at summer camp.

John Ruben, from Leicestershire in central England, appeared in court charged with three counts of wilful ill treatment of a child at the camp last weekend. 

He was charged on Friday over the treatment of three boys, according to Leicestershire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which authorises criminal charges in England and Wales.

Ruben appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Saturday and was told the charges relate to sweets allegedly laced with sedatives.

Police received a report Sunday that children at the camp in the village of Stathern had fallen ill. 

Officers went the following day and eight children -- all boys aged between eight and 11, and one adult, were taken to hospital as "a precaution", police said.

All have since been discharged.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has said it is investigating whether there were "breaches of professional behaviour ... that resulted in a delay in Leicestershire Police's response to what was later declared a critical incident".