The mum of the 13-year-old girl filmed being jumped by an "obsessed" classmate broke down as she described how her "kind and polite" daughter has suffered a six month bullying nightmare.
This week a video began circulating on social media, showing the sickening incident in Old Rough Park, Kirkby, on Wednesday night. Merseyside Police have been informed and confirmed officers are investigating the alleged assault.
Speaking to the ECHO, the victim's dad shook his head in disbelief and disgust, while her mum wiped away tears as they described the moment they heard their daughter had been attacked out of the blue by a 14-year-old girl, while two other girls, reportedly aged 17 and 14, filmed it on their phones and shouted encouragement.
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Her mum, who did not wish for her or her daughter to be named, told the ECHO: "My heart sank into my stomach. My shoulders went limp, my throat went tight. I've suffered with this with my daughter, and it's worn me down."
Her dad simply muttered: "It's heartbreaking".
The incident occurred after the girl, who loves art and nature, went out to play with her friends. Her mum said: "I phoned her, I said I will keep phoning you every hour to make sure you are ok. You have got your [tracking] app on your phone.
"She says 'I'm ok, I'm in Northwood, I'll keep phoning you mum'. So she seemed happy. The next thing, it got to 8.24pm, and my phone rang and it come up with her friend's name. And I thought maybe her phone died, because she sometimes rang off another friend's phone.
"But the friend says; 'she needs you, her phone's died, she needs you now she has been jumped by [the attacker] and a few others."
Her mum rushed out to find her daughter with the help of friends and another parent, and managed to get her home. She said: "There was scrapes, there was cuts, there was grazes, there was twigs, thorns in her legs, because it was big thorny bushes she had shoved her in.
"She has got a big black bruise on her left rib, because [the attacker] stuck her foot on her rib and pulled her head.
"I have notified the doctors and have been told to take her to Alder Hey hospital to get an x-ray for the rib. She has a black mark on right cheek bone, patches on the back of her hair, she was in a daze. She's not eating, she's laying about."
The video that emerged, shared widely online, shows the attacker marching purposefully into a child's play area while her accomplices follow behind filming on their phones. She heads directly for the victim, who realises she is cornered and prepares to fight back.
But the attacker immediately begins raining down punches, as her accomplice repeatedly shouts: "Punch her head in now, punch her head in now". As the victim desperately tries to ward off the punches, the attacker's friends shout: "Go on, dig her, kick her in the face, punch her in the face not the back of her head."
Speaking of the video being shared online, the victim's mum said: "It feels embarrassing, and my daughter feels embarrassed. But she is actually gone a little bit like, I want people to know what she's doing."
She became emotional as she spoke of feeling powerless about the situation, she said: "Do you know as a mother and a parent, not being there to protect your child from people who think they can harm my daughter, and mark her body. I had to watch that video, of a 17 year-old-girl videoing it. It broke me."
And when asked her thoughts on people standing by and filming the attack, she added: "I think they're just as bad. They shouldn't video it. They should ring the police, or ring a parent to say there's someone fighting come and stop it. People need to come together and have a word with their kids, and be normal people. No hate."
According to her parents, the attack is the culmination of a six-month period of severe bullying. Her mum said the two girls had started as friends, but the relationship soured when the other girl became controlling and obsessive.
She told the ECHO how her daughter had once been friends with her attacker with the two having sleepovers, but their friendship suddenly took a turn with the mum explaining how her daughter told her how she didn't want her 'friend' staying over anymore.
The decision to pull away from the friendship did not go down well, and the victim's family said the bullying grew steadily more intense and serious. Her mum said she pleaded with the attacker's mum to "sort out" her daughter, who promised to "have a word". However nothing changed, and the victim became so afraid of "getting jumped" at school she did not go out with the other children at break times.
Her mum said: "It carried on, just kept carrying on, and carrying on. The mum didn't listen, it still went on all this bullying. The school ended up giving [my daughter] a safe space to go at break times. She went to the art room because she likes art, she's a really good drawer."
Things outside school became more serious around Easter time. The mum told the ECHO: "She took her phone off her, in the McDonald's, and then [the attacker] called me and said [my daughter's] phone's here. When [my daughter] got home she said 'no, it was her who took my phone'. She fought with my daughter to get the phone off her, in the toilets."
Things continued in the same vein, with word reaching the family that the other girl was trying to set up an ambush.
Her mum said: "We got a message from [my daughter's] friend, a boy, saying 'don't come out they're planning to jump you'. And they sent a screenshot to [my daughter] saying 'try and get [my daughter] to here so [the attacker] can jump her'."
By this point the victim was suffering the mental effects of the bullying, and had self-harmed according to her mum.
But still the situation did not improve, and another serious incident occurred on April 30. Her mum said: "So she got chased by [the attacker] and the two other girls, they all chased her around from Southdene to Northwood, and then they phoned her.
"My daughter's friend was with her and videoed the call. [My daughter] went who's this? And she went 'It's [the attacker] girl, wait til I get my hands on you, ha, I've just chased you all round Northwood'." She says her daughter ran into a friend's house for safety and was taken home by a parent.
Both of those earlier incidents were logged with Merseyside Police, and the school were notified, but now the family say things have gone too far and they are seeking to move schools and even to leave Kirkby.
She says some other children have stopped hanging around with her daughter because they are afraid of crossing the other girl, who she says is often accompanied by a "large gang" of other children.
Her mum said: "I want to get out of this area. I want to get my daughter fit and healthy, not being sad. I want her to feel happy, safe, with a group of girls and boys who want to be her friend and be nice. I'm going to get her in a different school and I am moving from this area because it's just disgusting."
A statement from Merseyside Police said: "We were contacted on Wednesday, May 3, following reports a 13-year-old girl had been assaulted in Old Rough Park in Kirkby by a group of girls at around 8pm.
"Enquiries into the incident are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPolCC or contact @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting log 1147 of 3rd May."
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