The mum of an autistic Glasgow schoolgirl has spoken of her devastation after her daughter was allegedly lured to a park in Glasgow and beaten unconscious in an attack that left her hospitalised for two days.
Abbie Jarvis, 12, had agreed to meet a friend from school at a park in the Drumchapel area of the city on Tuesday, October 4. When the youngster arrived she was reportedly set upon by another girl as a group of 10 youths filmed the attack on their phones.
It is claimed Abbie was punched several times in the face and knocked to the ground. The alleged attack then continued as she suffered multiple kicks to the head and was left covered in blood.
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Abbie's mum Angela has told how she had a 'bad feeling' that something was wrong after her daughter failed to respond to a text message. She then received a phone call from Abbie and heard a girl screaming her name in the background before the call was cut off.
The mum-of-four rushed out to look for Abbie, but later returned home to find her daughter covered in blood and slipping in and out of consciousness in the back of another parent's car.
The 43-year-old told the Daily Record: "Abbie's friend's mum had driven her home and when I arrived she warned me it wasn't good. I went to the back of her car and I saw Abbie lying there.
"She was covered in blood, falling in and out of consciousness. She couldn't even speak.
"She had a lump on her head that I still cannot even believe to this day was real because it was so big. She looked completely deformed."
Angela raced her daughter to the Royal Hospital for Children where she was kept for two days. The schoolgirl had a deep gash to her head that had to be glued together and was left with painful bruising across her skull and face.
Angela added: "When I got to the hospital, I went into survival mode. The doctor pulled me aside and said they would have to check if her skull was fractured.
"Abbie was covered in bruises all over her face.. I couldn't even touch her because she was in agony.
"It was horrific to see and it nearly broke me. Even now, I can't bring myself to think of her lying there during that beating and waiting for it to stop."
Doctors who treated Abbie called police officers to the hospital due to the severity of her injuries. Police Scotland have now confirmed a 13-year-old girl has been charged in connection with the incident. She is due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.
The Daily Records understands the teen has been granted bail on the condition she does not approach the victim.
Schoolgirl Abbie had been struggling at school for a number of months due to suffering from social anxiety. After working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) to rebuild her confidence, she changed school in June where she had met a new group of friends.
Angela says her terrified daughter has now completely regressed and is now too scared to leave the house.
She added: "She keeps having nightmares about this girl chasing her. She doesn't want to walk out of the door.
"This has left her completely traumatised. There are spells where she is even struggling to pronounce her words properly and she is slurring them a lot.
"I am trying to get counselling put in place for her. Abbie has such an amazing personality and she is a very loyal girl to her friends. I don't know why this happened to her."
Angela is now backing a petition created by community campaigner, Alex O'Kane, urging the Government to address the disturbing culture of youth violence in Scotland.
Angela added: "The Scottish Government needs to put more funding into educating children about bullying and there need to be stronger consequences. Bullying never starts severe, it starts small and it needs to be tackled early on to prevent violent acts."
Campaigner Alex O'Kane added: "When I learned about Abbie's horrific experience from her mother Angela, I realised that her experience is perfect example of what the petition is about and what it's trying to achieve.
"The current system to tackle bullying is not working. There has to be a perception of consequences to prevent and deter children from carrying out violence."
"In recent months I have received dozens of videos, images and first-hand accounts which describe a disturbing culture of youth violence in Glasgow city centre. Children should be safe in our city."
Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney described Abbie's case as 'one of the worst' he has encountered.
He added: "Such mindless violence has unfortunately become far too common in Glasgow and Abbie's case is one of the worst I have ever encountered."
"It's abundantly clear that something needs to change. I will be supporting the petition that seeks to address Scotland's culture of youth violence."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A 13-year-old girl has been arrested and charged following the alleged serious assault of a 12-year-old girl in Southdeen Avenue near Southdeen Park, Drumchapel, Glasgow, on Tuesday, October 4. She has been released on an Undertaking to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.
"A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and the Scottish Children's Reporters Administration for consideration."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Everyone has the right to be, and to feel, safe in their community. While only a small minority of young people offend, violence is never acceptable.
“Ministers cannot comment on individual investigations or decisions. The police response will continue to be measured but robust - to protect both the public and young people in Glasgow City.
“Since 2011, the Scottish Government’s Whole System Approach has delivered huge reductions in offence referrals to children’s hearings, cases going to court, and young people going to custody. Meanwhile, the Children’s Care and Justice Bill, being brought forward later this year, will include measures to improve support and information for victims of youth crime.
“The Scottish Government has also invested over £23 million in violence prevention since 2008. This includes over £16 million to the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, and more than £4 million to No Knives, Better Lives, funding includes delivery of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Programme which is engaged with all 32 local authorities across Scotland.”
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