Piers Morgan anger over Susan Boyle ‘harassment’

● Gang of youths alleged to have hounded singer ‘vile little vermin’

A gang of youths reported to have harassed singing star Susan Boyle have been branded “vile little vermin” by Piers Morgan.

The TV presenter, who was one of the judges on Britain’s Got Talent when Boyle was discovered, hit out after the 56-year-old was “hounded” by a group of youths near her West Lothian home. A Sunday newspaper claimed as many as 15 youngsters, mainly boys, had been involved in the incidents.

An anonymous witness told the newspaper about one attack which took place on a bus near her home in Blackburn.

They said: “We were inside the bus and they were throwing stones, screaming and shouting things.”

The witness added: “Another time ten to 15 of them were surrounding and throwing stuff. They lit a piece of paper and threw it at her face.

“Then I was going inside the Mill Centre, Susan was walking out and they were all standing at the entrance and they said to her, ‘Why don’t you get yourself a pair of glasses you ugly old b **** ’. It’s horrendous.”

Morgan hit out on Twitter, saying: “This disgusts me. Vile little vermin.”

Boyle was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in 2012. The syndrome is a form of autism, which is a life-long developmental disability that affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to other people.

Since rising to fame in 2009 on Britain’s Got Talent, she has performed for the Pope, the Queen and taken to the stage alongside her idol, Elaine Paige. She has sold more than 25 million records worldwide.

Before being diagnosed with Asperger’s, her behaviour was thought to be a result of being starved of oxygen at birth.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said the force had “no comment to make” on the reported incidents.

Boyle failed to settle in a £300,000 luxury villa at the other end of the village that she bought in 2010 and moved back to the home she bought from West Lothian Council for £65,000.

In an interview last year, she praised her local community for helping her.

She said: “I have great neighbours. They change my lightbulbs and everything because I can’t do that.”