6ft 5in lad, 12, becomes Britain’s tallest pre-teen – and has chance of claiming the world record

A LAD of 12 has raised the bar by becoming Britain’s tallest pre-teen — at 6ft 5in. Samuel Webb has a big chance of being the current world record holder and is already loftier than 99.9 per cent of adults. Samuel Webb has raised the bar by becoming Britain’s tallest pre-teen — at 6ft 5in Credit: Mark Tattersall Samuel, with sister Freya and brother Joseph, has a big chance of being the current world record holder and is already loftier than 99.9 per cent of adults Credit: Mark Tattersall On the downside, referees don’t believe he is 12 when he plays football with other children his age. He often jokes his 6ft 2in dad James is short. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! James told The Sun: “Samuel enjoys being tall. He plays tennis and football. “He plays goalkeeper for his local club but sometimes the ref goes, ‘no chance you’re 12’, and he’s had to prove his age. “Tennis is his main sport. “It’s definitely an advantage ­having long arms. “He wasn’t that big when he was born. “He was long and thin but not huge.” Most read in The Sun Samuel said: ‘Being tall is good, but being too tall isn’t great when you can’t fit in a plane seat’ Credit: Mark Tattersall The young lad is due to see a specialist who will X-ray the lad’s hands to predict when he will cease growing Credit: Mark Tattersall Samuel, whose mum is 5ft 11in, may start testosterone therapy to put a limit on what height he will reach. His dad said: “Being tall is good, but being too tall isn’t great when you can’t fit in a plane seat. “Samuel has grown five inches in a year — we don’t want him to be 7ft 5in. “If he’s predicted to grow too much, he’ll get testosterone and his growth plates will fuse so he stops growing.” Samuel, of Skelmanthorpe, West Yorks, is due to see a specialist who will X-ray the lad’s hands to predict when he will cease growing. The family say his sister Freya, eight, and brother Joseph, 11, are tall — but nowhere near what Samuel is. A typical 12-year-old in the UK is roughly 4ft 11in. The previous record for ­Britain’s tallest pre-teen was held by Sophie Hollins, from Southampton, who measured 6ft 2in aged 12 in 2018. At the time, bosses at ­Guinness World Records believed she was the tallest ­pre-teen on the planet. After being contacted by The Sun, Guinness said it will look into whether Samuel is the globe’s loftiest 12-year-old. Comment now