Richard Dawkins questions Ahmed Mohamed's 'motives' and sparks backlash

Evolutionary biologist says boy's arrest was wrong, but questions whether he really invented an alarm clock

The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins found himself at the centre of controversy on Sunday when he questioned the motives of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old boy who was arrested and detained in Texas when a teacher thought a clock he had made was a bomb.

Dawkins did not dispute that Mohamed should not have been arrested, but questioned whether the boy had truly "invented" the clock, as has been reported. He tweeted: