An 11-year-old boy was left with multiple injuries after a street attack that was filmed and posted on social media. Simone Reed said her son Kevin Buttery “thought he was going to die”.
Kevin was beaten with a stick, kneed in the torse and lifted in the air by his neck. It left him with broken ribs, a broken neck bone, fractured ankle and covered in bruises.
The horrifying incident is being investigated by police. It happened near Urlay Nook Road, Eaglescliffe, County Durham, on Monday, leaving Kevin needing to stay overnight in hospital for treatment. Kevin, who is in his first weeks as a Year 7 pupil at secondary school, was walking home when he was set upon, reports TeessideLive.
Simone, who owns Yarm Aesthetics, said: “He was so frightened. He said to me ‘mam I thought I was going to die. ‘I thought when they had hold of my neck my life was going to end there’.
“He said he’s never been that scared in his life before. He’s never had any fights or confrontations with his sisters. I’m so consistent with the way I bring my children up and teach them to respect and love one another. He’s never dealt with anything like that before or had to deal with any confrontation like that.”
Clips of the attack have been shared on social media and show Kevin, who attends Egglescliffe School, trying to fight his attackers off as a crowd gathers around them. After sharing her son’s story on social media, the mum says she’s received messages from people with concerns over the lack of CCTV in that area.
She added: “As soon as I think about it, it just gets me so upset. I’ve had hundreds of people coming forward and saying similar things happened to them when they were younger in that area. There’s no CCTV covering that area near the blue bridge. People have been getting jumped there for many years.
“I’ve had other people saying their children were jumped there before. It’s continuously a problem and has been going on for a long time.”
Now she’s calling for CCTV to be installed in the area which will hopefully deter future attacks. The mum-of-five, who appeared in the summer 2017 series of Channel 5’s Big Brother, added: “It breaks my heart. I just wish I could have put myself in that position rather than him. I’m so heartbroken.
“I had a nightmare the night after it happened fearing it will happen again. If I’m having nightmares I can’t imagine what it must be like for him.
“From my point of view, even if it wasn’t my child, I think the people videoing it are just as bad. They could have stopped it from happening to him, but they were egging it on.”
Simone has praised both Kevin’s school and the police for their support so far following the incident. An investigation into the incident is now ongoing, Cleveland Police has confirmed.
A spokesperson for the force said: “Police have received a report of an assault on an 11-year-old boy which happened around 4pm on Monday, September 18, on Urlay Nook Road, Eaglescliffe. Enquiries are ongoing into the incident.”
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