Police have dropped an investigation into an alleged assault of an 11-year-old boy who lost a finger and received an outpouring of support from sports stars last year.
Raheem Bailey, a pupil at Abertillery learning community in south Wales, was attacked and beaten by a group of children on 17 May 2022, according to his mother, Shantal, who said he was pushed to the ground and repeatedly kicked.
In an Instagram post days after the incident, accompanied by photographs of her son’s injured hand, Shantal said Raheem made a “desperate attempt” to leave the school grounds to escape the situation. Raheem’s finger was then caught in a fence as he tried to climb to escape. Despite surgery to save his finger, it was later amputated.
Nearly a year since the alleged assault, Gwent police said their investigation, described as “complex”, found Raheem had left the school “of his own accord” and concluded no other individual was involved in his injury.
Police said reports of this nature were taken “extremely seriously”, adding that CCTV footage from the school had been viewed and several people interviewed under caution. The family has been informed of the investigation’s outcome.
As the incident garnered attention, athletes including the boxer Anthony Joshua, th former Wales football captain Ashley Williams and the retired England defender turned pundit Gary Neville reached out to express their support.
Following the incident, Shantal launched a GoFundMe campaign to purchase a prosthetic finger for Raheem and help with his recovery, eventually raising £107,575. In September last year, she shared a video of Raheem receiving his prosthetic finger and smiling wide as he says: “That’s so cool, I got my finger, I’m so happy.”
The police statement said no further action would be taken. Blaenau Gwent council announced on Friday it would commission an independent review to identify any lessons learned and to help inform future responses.
A statement from the council added that Raheem had suffered a life-changing injury and its thoughts remained with him and his family.
