A boy who sent a naked photograph of himself to a girl at school has had the crime of making and distributing child pornography images recorded against him by police, the BBC has learnt.
The boy, aged 14, who was not arrested or charged, could have his name stored on a police database for 10 years. The information could also be disclosed to future employers, his mother said.
Police said three children were named in a crime report, but it was not in the public interest to prosecute.
The Criminal Bar Association said the case highlighted the dangers of needlessly criminalising children.
The schoolboy took the naked photo of himself in his own bedroom. He then sent it to a girl from his school using Snapchat - an app which deletes direct messages within 10 seconds. However, before the image disappeared, the girl saved it on her
own phone and it was then sent to other pupils at the school.
The matter was brought to the attention of a police officer based at the school and it has now been officially recorded as a crime.
The 'crime' will now be flagged up in a DBS check routinely initiated before being allowed to work in many jobs.
Immigration laws leave an estimated 33,000 people unable to remain with spouses in Britain as they do not earn enough to satisfy visa requirements.
The rules were introduced on 9 July 2012, and every year dozens of couples who have been separated from their partners and children gather outside the Home Office to protest a law which means around 47% of Britons do not earn enough to fall in
love with a foreigner.
Don Flynn, of Migrant Rights Network, which hosted the demo along with BritCits, an organisation for affected couples, said the British economy had suffered because of the law:
The government claimed it would save £650m, but research from Middlesex University found that if, as expected, most of these spouses would have found employment, that would have made a contribution of over £850m.
There was a common thread among those who came to protest on Thursday, regardless of their background. All said that everyone they met thought the law was wrong.
Among those protesting were family members with children living abroad, unable to return because of visa laws.
Nigel Johnson brought his 11-year-old stepson Jeff to the protest from north Devon, with the youngster proudly wearing his British public school uniform. Nigel's wife Burphan, Jeff's mother, is still in Bangkok. J ohnson said:
We don't even intend to stay here long term, but we've scraped every penny together from the extended family to give this boy a proper British education. In just two years, with English as his second language, he's top of his class. But of
course, he misses cuddles from his mum.
I've cut grass, I've cleaned holiday cottages, I've worked six jobs to get my income over the threshold and still we are being turned down.
The legal fight against the law is now in its final throes. In 2013, the high court found the threshold of £18,600 was too high, with Mr Justice Blake calling the law unjustified but it was overturned by the court of appeal and the case is
now at the supreme court, due to sit this September. That same month will also see a report from children's commissioner Anne Longfield examining the effects of the law on children separated from a parent.
But many of the couples at Thursday's protest who had successfully managed to settle in the UK said they had used a legal technicality known as the Surinder Singh route, after the landmark case. It paved the way for Britons to work abroad in
another European Economic Area country before bringing a non-European spouse to the UK, so EEA law on spouses, which is more generous, can take precedent.
Mrs Pineda-Andrews said the system had coloured her view of Britain. I experienced so much bigotry, to be with the person I love. She smiled as she held up her passport, with the British visa inside. We are still fighting because we
want change, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Well, maybe on Theresa May.
I allow my 16-year-old daughter to play the 18-rated Grand Theft Auto. So should someone call the cops? That's what certain schools in England are threatening to do. By Fionola Meredith
Parents are in danger of being reported to police by their children's head teachers if they allow them to play video games for over 18s.
A disgraceful threatening letter sent by a group of schools in Cheshire said that parents would be reported for child neglect if they let their kids play games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto , which have an 18
classification.
It warns that if teachers are made aware their pupils have been playing these video games they will contact police and social services.
The letter, sent by Nantwich Education Partnership, said allowing children to play these type of games on Xboxes and Playstations is deemed neglectful . The letter threatens:
If your child is allowed to have inappropriate access to any game or associated product that is designated 18+ we are advised to contact the Police and Children's Social Care as it is neglectful.
Nantwich Education Partnership covers 16 primary and secondary schools in Cheshire.
I have a real problem with our country's leadership, precisely because of this sort of nitwittery. I shake my head and wonder how someone who spouts this kind of evidence-free claptrap gets to that level.
An amusing explanation of European incompetence in allowing ludicrously complex and costly VAT laws that seems designed to crucify small businesses whilst enforcing record keeping that the Stasi would be proud of