British Prime Minister Blair's son accused of being 'drunk and incapable'

July 6, 2000
Web posted at: 7:48 a.m. EDT (1148 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- Euan Blair, the 16-year-old son of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was detained "for being drunk and incapable," Scotland Yard said Thursday.

An officer spotted young Blair in Leicester Square in the heart of London's West End on Wednesday night and took him into custody.

Authorities said an ambulance was called because officers were concerned about the boy's condition, but he was not taken to a hospital and was released from custody about 1 a.m. Thursday.

Blair spokesman Alistar Campbell said Euan had been out with friends to celebrate the end of school exams. Campbell quoted police as saying they found the boy "lying on the ground, clearly ill," adding that the boy had been vomiting.

After medics determined that the boy did not need hospitalization, he was taken to Charing Cross police station. Campbell said Euan told police his name was "Euan John," gave an old address and a date of birth "which suggested he was 18" years old.

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When police searched the boy, said Campbell, they discovered who he was and called the prime minister's Special Branch team, which is in charge of Blair's security.

"Euan has no doubt of the seriousness of what he had done," said Campbell, adding that the boy is "very sorry for the inconvenience he caused police, very sorry for the state he was in and for his false statement."

No charges were immediately filed.

"The options are now that he could be brought back and issued with a formal warning or he could be cautioned," a Scotland Yard spokesman said. "Both of those are options open to police, but at this time neither of them have happened."

Scotland Yard did not release Euan Blair's name, referring to him only as "a 16-year-old male." A statement from the Yard said the officer "just came upon" Blair in the square and was not responding to any complaint about him.

Campbell said that the prime minister and his wife, Cherie, will cooperate with any police action and will go with Euan to the Charing Cross police station to learn what further action police intend to take.

The elder Blair has called for police to crack down on what he called "drunken yobs," particularly after English soccer hooligans rampaged in Belgium during the Euro 2000 championship. The prime minister has championed a plan to give the power to issue immediate fines for drunken behavior, an idea shot down by police chiefs who say it is unworkable.

Euan is the oldest of Blair's four children. The others are Nicky, 14, Kathryn, 12, and baby Leo.

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