Syrian boy ‘suffered years of abuse’ at Huddersfield school

The leadership of a West Yorkshire school has been called into question following allegations that a Syrian refugee child was subjected to two years of physical abuse there.

Last week, footage showing a 15-year-old Syrian schoolboy, who can only be identified as Jamal, being allegedly assaulted was posted online.

The footage of the playground incident at a school in Huddersfield, which showed Jamal being pushed to the ground and having water poured on his face, was watched millions of times and attracted widespread condemnation, including from Theresa May.

There are now calls for answers after it emerged that the teenager may have been subjected to years of abuse.

Just over four weeks ago, Jamal contacted his local councillor and MP asking for help. In the e-mail entitled “Complaint. Please help me”, Jamal said he had been subjected to bullying since he joined the school in year 9.

“I have never had an e-mail like that,” said the Almondbury councillor Bernard McGuin.

Jamal and his sister, the only Syrian children in the school, are said to have become targets for bullies within a month of starting school.

Three weeks before the videoed incident and shortly after he sustained a wrist injury in another incident, Jamal sent an e-mail to the local authority, Kirklees council, the department of education, Ofsted and the police.

But it is alleged nothing was done and he contacted McGuin and Barry Sheerman, his local MP.

For McGuin, who becomes upset when speaking about Jamal, the school did not take action soon enough and he is now demanding answers.

“This cry for help really touched my heart,” he said. “It really hurt me. I was glad he contacted me, that someone thought that I could help them.”

After receiving the e-mail McGuin immediately contacted safeguarding officers at the local authority and steps were taken to protect Jamal. But it has now emerged that Jamal had raised many bullying allegations with school staff and was allegedly ignored.

McGuin said: “They seemed to have ignored it for two years and we now have to look to the future and see if we need different leadership. I am not trying to scapegoat here, but if it has been an ongoing problem then something needs to be done.”

After the video of Jamal being attacked emerged, the police interviewed a 16-year-old suspect. The teenager is to appear before a youth court on a charge of assault.

Police have said they fully investigated a “wrist injury” (Jamal refers to this as a broken arm in the e-mail) he sustained on October 7, and three young people were subsequently interviewed. No further action was taken “as the evidential test required to prosecute was not met”.

Last year the 720-pupil school, which provides both primary and secondary education, was rated as requiring improvement in all but one aspect of the report, which stated: “Pupils’ achievement since the last inspection has not improved enough. By the end of key stages one, two and four, pupils’ outcomes remain below average.” The school is likely to face an emergency inspection after Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools, said she was appalled by the video and had received 400 complaints.

After the video went viral, meetings were held with parents of other alleged bullies, Jamal and his sister were chaperoned during break times and they would have daily contact with the headteacher, Trevor Bowen.