A horrified mum has told how her 15-year-old girl was left with a gashed head after being attacked by a group of youths in Edinburgh city centre. She said the teenager and her 14-year-old sister were targeted by an unknown group of youths.
Her two daughters were walking through a busy Princes Street Gardens when she said the mob approached them and took one of the older girl's portable speakers from her and chucked it in a bush. When the girl went to retrieve it, the group supposedly circled around them both.
The mum said they told her younger daughter she would "die" if she tried to intervene, and so the terrified 14-year-old ran to get help as her older sister was punched, kicked and "stabbed' in the head with a shard of glass from a smashed bottle. Both daughters fled to the McDonald's branch on Princes Street for safety where the chasing gang continued to wreak havoc, reportedly scrapping with security on the door and also random passers-by.
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Called by her younger daughter, the mum arrived at the scene and said the group were still outside McDonald's with paramedics unable to tend her daughter's injuries as it was deemed too dangerous with police trying to restore order.
The mum told how the terrifying ordeal led to her older daughter's skull being glued by doctors that evening, as well as her whole body covered in nasty bruises. Speaking of the horror on June 11, the mum, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "They both went out to hang out of their friends when they bumped into this group of teenagers, there was about 20 of them, one was 19-years-old and he took my oldest daughter's speaker and threw it into the bushes. When she went to get it, that's when they all circled around the two of them.
"They pushed my youngest daughter away and kept saying to her she was going to be killed. They then attacked my oldest daughter and stabbed her in the head, it was bad. Both male and females were punching her and kicking her. They had burst her nose open and she had footprints all over her body.
"She had a stab wound in her head as one of them had broken a bottle and then picked the glass up and stabbed her in the skull. She had a two inch wound in her head where she had to get it glued after we took her to the hospital. This attack went on for around ten minutes. My younger daughter phoned me afterwards and I couldn't make out a word she was saying as she was panicking and was so upset.
"After she phoned me I rang the police straight away and told them where my daughters were. Me, my husband and my baby jumped in the car and headed over, we were about 11 minutes away. Eventually, my youngest daughter managed to pull my other daughter away from the group and they went over to McDonald's."
When the mother arrived outside McDonald's on Princes Street, she said the group were still outside causing trouble. Running through them to get inside and reach her two daughters, she found one of them covered in blood.
She credited a shocked McDonald's worker with helping protect her daughters and prevent any further injury until the police arrived. She continued: "I jumped out of the car and all of the teenagers were standing outside fighting with the security staff, I probably owe my life to them. One of the wee workers, with blonde hair, was in complete shock. There was just blood everywhere and when I saw my daughter, her nose was clearly broken and we thought her jaw was broken too. My youngest, she was clearly in serious shock and was terrified.
"These teenagers were outside trying to smash the windows and kick the doors in. Two of them actually got in and were physically removed by security. My husband was on the outside in the car obviously looking after my baby and said the group were attacking people walking past and those trying to avoid them. He said that there was an older man that they attempted to push onto the tram tracks while a tram was coming. Obviously my husband then had to run out the car and help him.
"It was a full on riot. It was that bad that the ambulance were not allowed to come onto the street and help my daughter. The police wouldn't let us leave the building for about half an hour as they had to clear the area. The police supposedly made four arrests, but after my daughter gave a statement it doesn't sound like they've arrested anyone at all.
"The police said that they couldn't charge anybody without evidence or footage of the incident. I'm absolutely f****** raging at the fact that nobody has made any sort of appeal for information on what was an absolutely massive incident. They waited a week to take my eldest daughter's statement as the officers went off shift. We were the ones that had to find details of all these teenagers, not the police.
"One of the officers said that their investigation is still ongoing as they are waiting for my oldest daughter's medical records from the hospital. I think they're waiting for proof that she was stabbed in the head."
The mother added that she wanted to especially thank the staff at McDonald's for helping her daughters, as well as the security guards for keeping the group away from them.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 9pm on Saturday, 11 June, 2022, a 15-year-old girl was assaulted in West Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh. Enquiries are ongoing.”
McDonald's declined to comment.
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