Tyler Stanley was ‘punched and kicked’ by four youths as he walked home from Sir Stanley Matthews Academy in Blurton last week, his mother claims
A 16 year old schoolboy was subjected to a vicious assault by a group of students in a Stoke-on-Trent alleyway. Tyler Stanley was walking home from school when the group cornered him and unleashed a brutal attack, punching and kicking him.
The incident occurred on Friday, March 7, at around 3:40pm, and has left Tyler’s mother, Kayleigh Harvey, shaken. She has since withdrawn Tyler from school, opting for him to complete his work from the safety of their home. Kayleigh is now calling for tougher punishments to be implemented to deter such violent behavior.
Recounting the events, Kayleigh said: “He walked down the back alley from the high school, and these lads followed him most of the way down to Appleford Place. They were pestering him, asking where his sister was. He said that he didn’t know where she was, but that he knew she’d gone to her boyfriend’s house. I’m glad she wasn’t there because I don’t know if they were looking to hurt her.
“Next they started trying to wind Tyler up. Saying, ‘Oh look at your hair, why is it so long? You look like a girl.’ So he made a comment back saying, ‘Well, why are you ginger?’, because he’s very outspoken. He’ll just say things as it is.”, reports Stoke on Trent Live.
“At that point, the lads all started getting riled up, asking him why he’d said that. They reached the gates and one of the boys blocked him in. Two of the other lads started punching him in the head and the face. The fourth lad started kicking him in the legs. Once they’d finished, they followed him home asking if he’d had enough.”
The heartbroken mother explained: “I actually started shaking when he told me what had happened and that there was a video. I felt physically sick. When his friend showed me, I was on the phone to the police.
“I said to them, ‘Oh my God! He’s being thumped to the head!’ and they told me to stop watching it. You could literally hear the thumps. It took me two full days to get the guts to look at it again to see if I could identify any of the lads involved. I managed it, but I broke down in tears.”
Sir Stanley Matthews Academy is understood to have since suspended two students involved in the horrid incident, but grieving mum Kayleigh insists more needs to be done.
Explaining her frustration, Kayleigh added: “That school has been horrendous. They don’t care about bullying and they don’t care about the views of parents. When he was around seven, he was such a fun, bubbly little boy. But he’s so zoned out and depressed now. He won’t talk half the time.
When approached for a comment, a spokesperson from Sir Stanley Matthews Academy stated that they were aware of an altercation involving a “small number of students which took place on Friday evening after school, and away from the school site”.
However, they added: “We are clear that this incident is completely unacceptable, and we are treating the matter extremely seriously. As soon as we were made aware we took action to ensure that those impacted and their families received necessary support which is ongoing, and we will support the authorities’ enquiries as necessary.
“The behaviour is entirely out of line with the inclusive culture we foster as a school, and the high standards we expect from our students, so appropriate action has been taken in accordance with this and our policies. The safety and wellbeing of our students both inside and outside of school remains our number one priority, and we will continue to operate and continually enhance our robust safety protocols to ensure this”.
Staffordshire Police are also on the case. A spokesperson for the force said: “We are appealing for witnesses after a teenage boy was assaulted in Stoke-on-Trent. The boy was walking through an alleyway when he was kicked and punched by two teenagers. Thankfully, he was not seriously injured.”
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