A Syrian boy told a Manchester court how a group of children, some as young as 12, stamped and kicked him to the ground in a brutal racist attack.
The boy has managed to give evidence before magistrates to convict one 12-year-old assailant.
The defendant was found guilty at Manchester Youth Court following the assault.
The 13-year-old said that the gang of children “laughed with pride” after brutally attacking him.
He was left “unrecognisable,” his mother said. “I almost lost my child,” she added.
The incident occurred when the victim had been playing football with friends at Plant Hill Park, Blackley, when the gang approached and began goading him with racist taunts.
He tried to walk away, but was followed and surrounded.
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The defendant knocked him to the floor where he was kicked and stamped on by the rest of the gang.
Eventually one of the group pulled the others away, and he was able to escape.
He was taken to hospital where he was treated for bruising to his face and skull.
Describing the pain as “intolerable”, the boy said he tried to protect himself with his arms but his shoulder was kicked so hard he was spun round and the stamping continued.
In a statement read out by Alan Bakker, prosecuting, the victim said he’d been in the park for a kick-about with two friends when a large group of boys and girls came towards them. He tried to leave but was followed and subjected to swearing, racist taunts and “gibberish in an Indian accent” by five boys from the group.
Despite what his family has been through, the victim’s father said “he truly believe that Manchester is the best place to live in the UK and in Europe.”
