Yob, 12, in race-hate attack

A 12-YEAR-OLD yob who stamped on a Muslim schoolboy’s head in a race-hate gang attack has been warned he will be locked up if his thuggish behaviour continues.

The youngster also chased and ‘terrorised’ a 10-year-old boy with a crutch while wearing a mask, and caused £500 of damage by hurling stones at a truck on a building site.

The boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, has now been tagged.

He said ‘sorry’ as he stood in the dock at Manchester and Salford magistrates court. He was sentenced to complete an 18-month youth rehabilitation order and will be electronically tagged for three months between 8pm and 7am.

The court heard the boy, from north Manchester, has been expelled from schools and hasn’t been in education for more than 18 months.

Solicitor Michael Cahill, defending him in court, said he could be removed from the care of his parents, who the court heard restrain him.’

Chairman of the bench Ralph Naylor called him a ‘persistent young offender’ and warned him: “If you do not comply with these rules you will be back and you will be going into custody. There is no alternative.”

The boy pleaded guilty to criminal damage, affray and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place.

He denied racially aggravated assault, but was found guilty last month after a trial, at which his 13-year-old victim bravely gave evi- ‘cannot dence against him. The boy was in a gang of ‘six or seven’ who surrounded the young victim and his friends in Blackley on June 24 this year, the court heard.

Racial slurs were shouted at the victim before he was grabbed by the neck and brutally attacked.

The victim said: “I felt kicks and stamps all over my head. The pain was unbearable. I just wanted them to stop. They all just attacked me at once. I was so upset I started to cry.”

The boy, the son of a Syrian refugee, said he heard the gang laughing as they walked away. He was left with bruising and swelling to his head and skull and a badly bruised face. He said the attack meant he couldn’t celebrate Eid with his family as he was in hospital. “It has made me feel second class, like being a Muslim is something to be ashamed of,” he added.