West Lothian girl who was left with a brain injury after a vicious attack at school has hit out after claiming her own family were ‘treated like criminals’.
The woman told how her 12-year-old daughter was pulled to the ground by her hair with her head then repeatedly smacked off the floor in a busy corridor at a West Lothian school, which cannot be identified for legal reasons, in February 2020.
She was horrified to find staff had failed to call for an ambulance and whisked the youngster to St John’s Hospital for emergency treatment to her head and back injuries.
The schoolgirl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was later forced to undergo surgery on her jaw after her teeth became embedded when her head was hit off the concrete floor.
After calling police themselves, another pupil was later charged with assault but the concerned mum’s attempts to get answers from the school allegedly went unanswered.
She wrote to the head of education services at West Lothian Council in July that year, telling them that her two children would not be returning.
But just weeks later, she was shocked to find police officers at her door followed by social workers who had been called in by education chiefs.
The girl and her mum were then dragged to a Children’s Reporter hearing at the start of 2021 over claims she had “failed without reasonable excuse to attend regularly at school”.
A safeguarder was appointed, who found no issue with the family’s home schooling arrangements, but the Children’s Reporter persisted with the court action.
After numerous callings at Livingston Sheriff Court, the case was eventually dropped by in January 2022 - clearing both mum and daughter of any perceived wrongdoing.
The mum-of-two has now voiced her fury at the way the family were treated during the lengthy ordeal despite her daughter being the victim of a serious crime.
The 46-year-old said: “I took her to St John’s Hospital where they sent her for all sorts of tests. We were there for hours. They weren’t happy at first and were keeping an eye on her for improvements.
“With it being a head injury, it was very hard for them to know exactly what the damage was but they said time would tell. She was concussed and had probably passed out.
“My daughter told me that another pupil had pulled her down to the concrete floor by her hair. She then banged her head up and down off the floor several times before kicking her in the back while she was lying down.
“I’ve never personally seen the CCTV but the police do have it. This happened in the corridor at lunch time so there were a lot of witnesses.
“I went into the school the next morning to ask if I could have a look at an incident book or something like that. They had a look at it and told me they couldn’t show me it.
“They wouldn’t tell me what had happened, who was involved or why they never phoned an ambulance.
“At that point I thought they had called the police but I later discovered that they hadn’t so we reported it a few weeks later.”
The mum continued in her attempts to get answers from education chiefs but decided to withdraw both her daughters in July when pupils were due to return to class after lockdown.
In a handwritten letter, seen by the Daily Record, the mum cited neglect by staff at the school as her reasons for deciding to homeschool her children.
But police and social workers then attended at the family’s home after being called for concern over the children’s welfare. Officers raised no concerns.
Around 12 months later, the mum was told to attend a Children’s Hearing and given a copy of a social work report which she claims “made her out to be an unfit mum”.
Her and her daughter were then cited to appear at Livingston Sheriff Court for allegedly failing to attend school without a reasonable excuse.
She explained: “During the first hearing, my daughter got upset and began crying. The reporter then tried to use this against us saying they had to appoint a safeguarder because me as the mum was upsetting the child.
“But the reason she was upset was because the Children’s Reporter had sent her a letter saying they were going to remove her from my care if she didn’t cooperate.
“The sheriff questioned this and they said that this was a standard letter that they sent to children.
“A safeguarder, who is also a lawyer, was appointed and he came out and found that my daughter was happy. He said I was nothing like the person I’d been painted out to be.
“The case called about seven times. The social worker even put in her report that she believed I was making my daughter’s injuries up and that the incident happened on the 1st of February - which was a Saturday.
“The school claimed that they didn’t know about the incident until several days later - but who called me to the school then? They even have it in her attendance record that she left school for a half day due to medical reasons. It’s just been lie after lie.
“The court then said I should re-start the procedure of withdrawing my children which I did - despite the fact I had already done this in July 2020.”
She added: “I think it’s really taken a toll on my daughter. She’s had headaches, problems concentrating and issues with her memory. It has just gone on and on really.
“We’ve been treated like criminals. I’m not a troublesome person but God knows what my neighbours must think with all these people coming to my door.
“It’s also a total waste of public money and resources. This whole thing could have been avoided if they had just applied some common sense.
“When I wrote to them telling the head of education that I was pulling my daughters out of the school, they never replied saying there was a process to go through.
“When you’ve asked to withdraw your children, according to West Lothian Council’s own policy, they’re not allowed to apply disciplinary for abscesses at school whilst that is under consideration.
“But that’s exactly what they did and how we ended up being dragged to court.
“If I had just been invited to some of the many meetings that took place at the school before the referral, this could have been avoided.
“We’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. You send your child to school to be under someone else’s care - not expecting them to be left with a brain injury.
“I just really, really hope some lessons can be learned. My daughter achieved 7 A’s in her National 5 exams and these were assessed by an SQA invigilator.
“She is still attending hospital appointments for treatment and is trying to get better. The dealings with the Children’s Reporter and the court on top of this has just been a total nightmare.
“I wouldn’t wish it on any one else and I have very real concerns about the school.”
Police Scotland confirmed that a 15-year-old was charged in connection with the assault.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “A full and thorough investigation was completed and all appropriate action was taken by council services at the time.
“The safety and wellbeing of young people is a key priority and it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) said they were unable to comment on individual cases to protect the identity of children involved.
They said: “The Children’s Reporter regularly receives referrals from schools when there are concerns about non-attendance.
“When we receive a referral, the Reporter carries out as detailed an investigation as possible.
“Depending on the nature of the referral, this involves asking for background reports from education, social work, health etc. Every child is dealt with on an individual basis.”
They added: “We are sorry for any distress this communication has caused.
“There are some pieces of information we are obliged to provide to young people and their families, but we are constantly striving to improve our communication, particularly with children and young people.
“As part of our commitment to Keep The Promise, we are currently reviewing all the letters that we send to children and families.”
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