A horrified mother has described the moment she was sent footage of her 12-year-old daughter allegedly being brutally attacked by a group of teenagers. She then came to learn that the sickening footage of her daughter being 'kicked, dragged to the ground and jumped on' in a shopping centre had been posted online.
Samantha, 35, of Preston, has been left shocked and terrified after the ‘horrific’ attack by what appeared to be a group of teenage girls on her daughter Maisie, at the Concourse shopping centre in Skelmersdale just before midday on Sunday. She said: “They kicked her, dragged her to the ground, beat her on the head, jumped on her, kept kicking her in the head.”
The group of girls who Samantha believes to be aged between around 14 to 17 gathered around her daughter, and three of them allegedly attacked Maisie while others filmed the sickening assault, reports LancsLive . “I can’t watch the film of it,” Samantha said, who was sent the short clip by a concerned parent after the video was posted to social media.
“The attack only ended when a lady intervened and chased the girls away, and I’m so grateful to her for that. I got to Skem as fast as I could, and got Maisie back home to me in Preston.” Now Maisie, who does not want her full name revealed and who has two brothers and two sisters, has been left with bruises, a swollen neck, bruising on her legs and is aching all over.
Samantha, who works as a cleaner, says the attack is ‘sickening,’ and now she fears for her daughter’s safety. She added: “This attack was sickening: they are just bullies, nothing but bullies. I got a message off one of the children that did it, apologising for what happened, saying, 'I feel so bad.'"
Her mum claims this is the second time Maisie has been attacked, with a similar attack taking place on a bus in Preston last October, which was also being filmed.
Now, the worried mum blames a rise in bullying among teens and says she fears for her daughter’s safety. She added: “Everybody was allowed back out again after the pandemic - and there’s been a rise in bullying. I fear for my daughter; I fear for her every time she walks out the front door, every time she’s away now. This was an horrific experience, and no one should have to go through it.
“There needs to be more done to help these kids; more social things for them instead of them being left to hang around the streets all the time. Things for them to look forward to, as there’s nothing to make their lives better, like activities and clubs.”
Maisie, who has suspected ADHD, has been on the waiting list for an appointment with a CAMHS counsellor for around a year. Samantha added: “The government needs to know that people need help with their mental health, and better support.
"My daughter’s been on the waiting list for CAMHS for over a year, and there needs to be more help towards mental health issues, more support for children with problems. This generation has been let down badly; they didn’t have routine or a structure and they have had everything taken away from them.”
Lancashire Police confirmed that the incident last weekend had taken place and said its officers were investigating. The Department of Health and Social Care were contacted for comment.
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