Blasphemy hunts continue:

Four pupils have been suspended from a West Yorkshire secondary school after a copy of the Quran was damaged by students.

Wednesday’s incident at Wakefield’s Kettlethorpe High School happened when a copy of the Islamic text was brought in by a Year 10 pupil.

Head teacher Tudor Griffiths said the book remained intact and there was “no malicious intent” from those involved.

There is no shortage of copies of Islam’s holy book. It shouldn’t be a news story that one copy out of billions was “damaged.” You might as well fret that a newspaper got torn.

Maybe if people do it out of malice they should be told to stop bullying, but other than that, nothing to see here.

The school held a meeting “with concerned community leaders” – which I suppose means with men from the “community” of Muslims. The BBC does love to sort religious people into their respective “communities.”

Independent councillor for Wakefield East, Akef Akbar, called the meeting after being contacted by people calling for more information. He said reports the Quran had been burnt or destroyed were untrue, and he had inspected the book himself during the meeting.

Mr Akbar said he had been told the book had been taken to school as a dare by a pupil who lost while playing a Call of Duty videogame with other students.

It’s a book. Schools sometimes have books.

Head teacher Mr Griffiths said in a statement: “We would like to reassure all our community that the holy book remains fully intact and that our initial enquiries indicate there was no malicious intent by those involved.

It doesn’t matter. It’s one copy of a very widely available book. Its state of health is of no real significance.

“However, we have made it very clear that their actions did not treat the Quran with the respect it should have, so those involved have been suspended and we will be working with them to ensure they understand why their actions were unacceptable.”

Oh stop. Mass-produced inanimate objects don’t require “respect.” Tell the kids not to bully other kids, and make sure they don’t, but don’t bother to protect ubiquitous physical objects.

“This morning, we met with our local Muslim community leaders, local councillors and police to share all the information we currently know, the action taken and the immediate steps we have taken to reinforce the values and behaviour we expect from every member of this school community to ensure that all religions are respected.”

We don’t have to respect any religions.