Islington Tribune - News: Schoolboy beaten

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Islington Tribune - by MARK BLUNDEN
Published: 22 June 2007

Young victim: Said his attackers threatened to break his legs

Schoolboy beaten by gang

Pupil chased through streets before being kicked and punched by teenagers

A SCHOOLBOY described this week how he was attacked by a teenage gang who left him so badly beaten he was barely recognisable to his parents.
The assault came amid claims of tension between Bengali and Turkish students at Highbury Grove School in Highbury – apparently over who should sit in an area of the playground known as the bandstand.
Parents of the assaulted boy, a slightly-built 13-year-old of Bengali descent, have refused to allow him to return to classes. They say they feel let down by the school.
Last Wednesday lunchtime, the boy, who education chiefs say should have been in class, was at the school gates when six youths – all aged about 17 – picked him out, apparently at random.
The boy said: “They shouted: ‘Oi, come here!’ I thought first I’d run home but didn’t want them to know where I lived.
“I ran first to Highbury Barn and tried to hide in a shop but the boys pulled me out.
“Then I ran to the Emirates but they caught up with me and threatened to break my legs. They dragged me to the clocktower at the top of Highbury Fields, where it is quieter and there are less people.
“One of them hit my head against a car window and I was thrown to the floor and they were kicking and punching me for about two minutes. All I could think was to protect my mouth and teeth.”
The attack stopped only when one of the gang spotted a police car driving past.
The boy’s father said: “The teachers did not tell me my son was at risk.
“The policeman who patrols the school was away at the time of the attack.”
The father is considering sending his son to another school. He says he will not allow the boy to return to Highbury Grove until security is increased.
Pupils at the school, which has its own police officer on-site, told the Tribune there had always been rivalry between Bengali and Turkish students at the school.
A Highbury Grove student, who asked not to be named, said: “It mostly starts off as messing about but recently it’s gone too far. Sometimes the on-site officer stops it, sometimes he doesn’t.”
He added that teachers had put some pupils under “inclusion” measures to stagger their departure from school.
Councillor Ursula Woolley, Lib Dem executive member for children and young people, said: “There is no evidence to suggest Highbury Grove pupils were involved in this upsetting incident.
“It happened off the school premises when the boy concerned should have been safely in school.
“There haven’t been any race-related problems either in the school or outside involving Highbury Grove pupils. In fact, pupils recently confirmed to Ofsted inspectors that they feel safe and secure in school.”

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