ORDEAL SLAM COP PROBE Boy,10, tried to kill himself after school bullies framed him for rape

there would be a trial. She said: “The police didn’t care about the impact on my son, who was a child and should have been treated as innocent until proven guilty.

“I was told they make charging decisions every 28 days, so every month I would call, only to be given no news.”

In that time the family had a visit from a witness protection service agent. The lad’s mum said: “We were told if the case got the go-ahead my son would be the youngest person to face trial for one of the allegations. It made me physically sick.

“They told us that if it was given the green light for trial, the entire family would have to be given new identities. We would be moved and protected in the interests of our own safety.”

It was only after ten months of suffering that the family had some good news. “We got a letter telling us that for now there would be no charges but it’s open. That is not good enough. It is so wrong.”

The family have hired a lawyer to get the charges dropped completely after one of the boys allegedly admitted it was all “just a joke”. The mum said: “They should face charges for wasting police time and the police should face consequences for how they treated us and how long they kept us in that hell waiting. “My little boy is ten, yet was treated like a grown man who has committed rape, as though he was guilty without a trial. It is sick and wrong. Something needs to be done.” DCI Pete Thorp, from Humberside Police’s Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, said: “All appropriate action was taken at the time and we conducted a thorough investigation. The Crown Prosecution Service made a decision not to prosecute and the matter is closed.”