Probe into school-age assault

Police are investigating an assault allegedly involving school-aged children in Wellington.

Two videos – which are understood to be circulating online, including on Instagram – show a sustained assault on what appears to be a teenage boy by two other children.

In the videos, the alleged offenders – who are both boys – appear to punch, kick, stomp on and ride a scooter into the victim. The scooter is also used to strike the victim repeatedly.

At one point, they appear to drag the victim from an outdoor staircase on to a concrete pavement, which is in a residential suburban area.

The victim’s backpack is stripped off of him by the alleged offenders, before they walk away.

Stuff has chosen not to publish the video or screenshots of it.

A police spokeswoman yesterday confirmed that police were aware of the assault.

The assault reportedly happened between Friday, April 17, and Wednesday, April 22, in the Mt Victoria area. It was first reported to police yesterday.

Police were investigating and inquiries were ongoing, the spokeswoman said.

Stuff understands one student in the video allegedly involved in the attack attends Wellington College. A Wellington College spokeswoman said the school was made aware of the assault on Wednesday night.

‘‘The school was last night made aware of a serious incident earlier this year off school grounds and potentially involving a student.

‘‘Considering the seriousness of the matter, we have referred the matter to the police,’’ she said.

‘‘We will be making no further comment on the matter at this time.’’

Martin Cocker, chief executive of Netsafe, said fights had been captured on video by people since smartphones came about.

All of the main social media platforms had adjusted their policies to make it easier to report content, including Instagram, he said. However, that had not stopped people from posting content in the first place.