Five suspects arrested in connection with a “vicious” racially-motivated attack on a 15-year-old black girl have been banned from Surrey as police urged a further teenager to hand herself in.
Footage shared online appeared to show the pupil being punched, kicked and having her hair pulled while her attackers were egged on by adults outside Thomas Knyvett College in Ashford, Surrey, on Monday afternoon.
On Friday, Chief Inspector Dallas McDermott of Surrey Police described the incident as “disturbing” and said he is “disappointed” with the reaction of the public in the video.
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted racially aggravated grievous bodily harm, including a 39-year-old woman, 16-year-old girl and two 11-year-old girls.
The woman and a 43-year-old man were also arrested on suspicion of child neglect and intentionally encouraging and assisting the commission of an indictable-only offence.
The 16-year-old was also arrested on suspicion of malicious communications.
Mr McDermott, who works in neighbourhood policing in North Surrey, said a number of officers were trying to bring the sixth suspect, a 15-year-old girl, into custody.
Speaking about his initial reaction to the video, he said: “Straight away when I was watching it, I was extremely shocked to see the level of violence that was used and the number of offenders that also targeted this girl – really shocking to see.
“I’ve said that (I’ve had) 23 years in the police, and as a police officer to watch that is disturbing, not just as a father.
“So I can understand how shocked, how angry, not just the local community are but the wider community to see such a vicious attack.”
Mr McDermott said although there are still pieces of evidence to gather, meaning the suspects were released on bail, they are subject to some “stringent bail conditions”.
He said: “There’s a certain threshold we need to get to get evidence and get charges.
“Unfortunately we weren’t quite there yet. There’s some key pieces of evidence that we need to present to the CPS so we’re doing that as swiftly as we can.
“We can’t just rely on the video for evidence in this case. We’ve had to release them on bail but they’ve been given some stringent bail conditions and one of those conditions is that they can’t enter Surrey.”
On Thursday, MPs demanded an investigation amid an online backlash over the response of staff during the incident.
Asked if police are conducting their own inquiries into the school, Mr McDermott said: “That’s down to the education authority to do that. They’ve got their own processes in place and their own policies in place and I do know that they are doing that.
“What I can say is that the school, and the teachers at the school, they have a duty of care under safeguarding. But that’s for the school to deal with and they’re running their own investigation in relation to that.
“What I can say from watching the video, I think it’s fair to say I was disappointed with the reaction of some of the public in the immediate area.
“What I’m saying, from what I’ve seen on the video, I just think there are a number of people in the area and it was just disappointing to see the reaction of people watching that video. People stood around filming, for instance. It’s just disappointing.”
Mr McDermott said any racially-motivated attack in the county receives a “high level of response”.
“In this case, we’re doing that with vigour,” he said. “We want to bring these offenders to justice. We’re trying to get those vital bits of evidence that we need to see charges, and I can say I believe we’re not far away.
“So we’re confident as a police force and as a local police team that we will bring justice for the victims.”
Addressing the girl yet to hand herself in, Mr McDermott said: “There’s still one outstanding that we do need to arrest. That’s a 15-year-old girl.
“She knows she’s wanted, family members will obviously know she is wanted so my plea to her and family members is to hand yourself in at the nearest police station.
“That’s not stopping us from making active inquiries to locate her. We have a number of officers… making those attempts to bring her into custody.”
A protest involving around 120 people was held outside the school on Wednesday, which Mr McDermott described as “very peaceful”.
He said: “It was all very peaceful, well organised and we had no issues there.
“My approach to that is people have a right to protest, they have a right to voice their frustrations and I can accept and understand why people are angry when you see a video like that.”
Mr McDermott said officers will continue to engage with the school and local area over the coming days.
