Schoolboy told he is not allowed to buy lunch because he owed 40 cents

A boy was left "just confused" after he was allegedly denied the use of the school's canteen due to a debt of 40 cents.

Matthew Williams, 12, queued up his lunch on day just before Christmas, only for a dinner assistant to tell him he wasn't allowed to buy any food, according to CBS7. The worker at James Bowie Middle School in Richmond, Texas, told the boy that he would have to pay off the debt of 50 cents (around €00.40) before he could be allowed any food. He told the outlet that he was hungry, felt "kinda dizzy" and his "head hurt", so he went to the canteen to get a drink and a bag of crisps. He recalled:

"She said 'I'm sorry, you don't have any more money. "And I said ok, 'Can I get anything else?' and she said 'No, I'm sorry.'"

His mum said that the situation was "upset her a lot" and she wasn't happy that Matthew had been told he would have to go hungry. The mother and son admitted they thought the situation was unfair, since teachers and other friends whose accounts went into the negatives had been given lunch on other occasions. Matthew's mum said that the headteacher of the school has since been in contact to apologise, assuring her that it won't happen again.