A 13-year-old girl who was filmed being kicked and ambushed at a school in Rochdale has spoken out amid warnings that a 'child will lose their life' if similar attacks continue.
The girl was filmed being attacked at a high school on Friday, March 31. The clip was then widely shared on social media.
It appeared to show at least a dozen children surrounding her as she was dragged to the ground by her hair and kicked in the head. The victim has now spoken to Sky News about what happened to her, describing how she found out on social media that there was an attack planned.
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Her half-brother also said he believed the attack was carried out just to be filmed, amid the 'increasingly popular but sickening trend' of videoed fights. The girl, who was just leaving for home after school when she was attacked, did not want to be named or pictured, but said she knows everyone in the school knows what happened.
"I had a black eye. My head hurt every time I spoke", she told Sky about how she felt after the incident. "I couldn't laugh because my head hurt. I couldn't move my neck.
"My back was sore. I have a scar on my knee that they cut open.
"I don't really like walking around now where I know people from the school are going to be, because pretty much everyone in my school knows about it. And I'm kind of glad that I don't have a phone because I feel like I'd just be getting messaged about it all the time."
She no longer has a phone because her attackers stamped on it. Billy, 44, the half-brother, and legal guardian of the victim, said filming pupils being attacked is becoming a dangerous craze.
He said: "They pick on someone who's normally quiet, somebody who doesn't bother anybody, they'll then use that person as a target to create this online content. And it's getting more vicious as each attack comes.
"I don't believe my sister has any long-running rivalries within the school. I believe this was created solely for the content of the internet."
He added: "A child is going to lose their life from this craze. It's happening all over the country."
'It is classic bullying'
Christine Pratt, the founder of the National Bullying Helpline, told Sky: "Increased calls to the National Bullying Helpline flag up this increasingly popular, but sickening, trend. This particular behaviour [filming abuse to upload to social media] is seen as 'sport' and amusement, often led by gangs and school bullies who seek power and attention.
"It is classic bullying. When it is posted 'online' the abuse takes a new form. The victim is further ridiculed. Once on social media, it is 'out there'.
"We hear about this practice occurring most weeks. It is usually the parent who calls us. They often struggle to persuade a school to believe them and/or take it seriously, investigate or deal with the perpetrators."
The headteacher at the school said they take their 'duty of care to students extremely seriously'. They added that the incident is being investigated. A police investigation is ongoing.
A spokesperson for GMP said: “In order to disclose any detail relating to an ongoing investigation involving minors, consent would first need to be obtained from parents and guardians. This would also have to be balanced against CIPA disclosures – which comes into effect the minute an investigation is launched.
“We would also have to consider if providing said updates would interfere or prejudice an ongoing investigation, preventing the achievement of justice.
“We would encourage anyone who is subject to offences on social media that encourages violence against another human being, to have the confidence to report them immediately to GMP via 101 or 999 in an emergency.
“Greater Manchester Police is committed to investigating each and every complaint received of this nature and bringing the perpetrators to justice, because those who are inciting violence through the use of social media, are committing crimes.”
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