Girl’s parents win payout over sex attacks in playground

THE parents of a schoolgirl who was repeatedly sexually assaulted in the playground by fellow pupils have won compensation in a landmark legal case.

A local authority paid the family of the victim, given the pseudonym Bella, a five-figure sum after school staff allegedly failed to act on signs that she was being abused.

The settlement, in which the council did not accept liability, was approved by the High Court in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.

Bella’s mother, referred to as Anna, said her daughter was “badly let down by those supposed to safeguard her”.

The pupil, who was six years old and in Year 2 at the time, was targeted almost daily during a six-week period between Oct and Nov 2015.

Two of her male classmates carried out the assaults with escalating degrees of severity – and threatened Bella with violence if she told anyone.

She eventually confided in her mother when she found it too painful to sit down at the breakfast table.

Concerns about the school’s safeguarding procedures quickly surfaced and it emerged that two staff members witnessed the boys display inappropriate sexual behaviour towards Bella, said Leigh Day, the family’s law firm.

The incidents were not flagged internally and Bella’s parents were kept in the dark, despite the school allegedly being aware that the boys had a history of similar behaviour.

Both boys were suspended, with one later leaving the school. Being under the age of criminal responsibility, neither faced police action.