Search icon

LOL

18th Apr 2017

3-month-old baby hauled in for questioning over terrorist ties

Anna O'Rourke

A baby in the UK was summoned to the US embassy for terrorism questioning after a clerical error.

The 3-month-old was ordered to come to the US embassy in London by authorities after his grandfather mistakenly ticked a box saying the baby was a terrorist, according to the Telegraph.

Paul Kenyon from Cheshire was filling out his grandson Harvey’s ESTA travel form ahead of a family holiday to Orlando in Florida and accidentally ticked a box saying ‘yes’ to the question “Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?”

Harvey’s application was then rejected and the baby was called in for questioning.

Paul went with his daughter Faye, who is Harvey’s mother, and the baby to the embassy three days before their flight.

Unfortunately, the visas did not arrive on time, meaning Paul had to pay £3,000 for extra flights so Faye and her partner could bring Harvey.

“I couldn’t believe that they couldn’t see it was a genuine mistake and that a three-month-old baby would be no harm to anyone,” he said.

“If you are a terrorist, I suspect you’d not be ticking ‘yes’ on the ESTA form anyway.”