Teenager's disbelief at Cherie 'slap' inquiry

A TEENAGER at the centre of an investigation into claims Cherie Blair slapped him has spoken of his disbelief that police were called in and insisted "it was just a bit of fun" which was taken the wrong way.

Miles Gandolfi, 17, was speaking shortly after police announced they were dropping an inquiry into allegations the Prime Minister's wife hit him at a national school sporting event in Glasgow last weekend.

The teenager had asked to be photographed with the Prime Minister's wife and then made a "rabbit ears" gesture with his fingers behind her head.

Mrs Blair, a high-profile human-rights lawyer and QC, as well as being a mother of four children, reciprocated by raising her hand and taking a light-hearted swipe at his back.

Yesterday Miles, from Chelsfield, Kent, said: "It was just a bit of fun. I didn't expect anything to come of it, she just tapped me and said, 'You're lucky I have such a good sense of humour'. I didn't think there would be any trouble about it."

The teenager, captain of the England under-17s épée fencing team, had been competing in the UK School Games last Saturday.

Newspaper photographs showed Mrs Blair and Miles laughing and hugging at the event, which is billed as the "Children's Olympics" and aimed at finding sporting talent for the 2012 London Olympics.

But police said the games' organisers had complained following a discussion with officials from the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU). It was set up to protect youngsters from child abusers working in sport.

Yesterday, the decision to call in police was condemned by politicians as a "waste" of officers' time.

Miles added: "I had no idea why the police wanted to speak to me, I thought it was a joke. My reaction was just disbelief."

Miles, competing at the Bristol Open fencing competition yesterday, said he had some sympathy with the police because they had to act after receiving a complaint.

He said: "Who gave the report? It's all a bit strange. Nothing crossed my mind about it at the time and as soon as I heard about [the complaint] I thought, 'Why me?' I don't think I have made myself very popular in the Blair household."

Strathclyde Police issued a statement last night: "Following further inquiries into an alleged incident said to have occurred at the UK School Games at Scotstoun Leisure Centre on 9 September, it has now been established no incident took place. Police inquiries into the matter are now complete."

Last night, politicians said police resources had been wasted investigating a "non-incident" and it undermined the valid reasons for setting up the child-protection unit.

Police were unable to confirm reports that more than a dozen officers were involved in the case or what the bill to taxpayers would be.

The Prime Minister's office said in a statement that police "undertook an investigation, including taking statements from a number of people".

"These included the 17-year-old boy involved and Mrs Blair's protection officer, who was with her at all times, and who said that nothing had occurred between Mrs Blair and the youngster."

Miles's mother, Catherine Gandolfi, a primary-school librarian, said the police reaction was "bizarre".

She added: "It was out of all proportion. What he did was not a problem to her and what Mrs Blair did was not a problem to him. Nobody else thought it was a problem."

Journalist Lauren Booth, half-sister of Cherie, said: "This is a case of Cherie being touchy-feely and somebody going, 'Oh, we can make something of this'."

Margaret Mitchell, Tory justice spokeswoman, said: "There are legitimate reasons why the CPSU was set up and this detracts from it.

"This was a non-incident and someone needs to look at the waste of police time."