Schoolgirl poisoned by fake 'lollies'

A Southland schoolgirl was hospitalised after being duped into eating copper sulphate on a school bus.

Kimberley Smith, 14, told the Southland Times her mouth went numb when she took crystals a Southland Boys' High School had offered her.

He told her it was "lollies".

The Southland Girls' High School pupil said the boy then told her it was poisonous.

She was taken to the family doctor, and then referred to Southland Hospital where she was admitted overnight.

The boys are understood to have stolen the poison from a lab at the school, the newspaper reported.

- NZPA