English girl, 13 bullied by Scots pupils over poll on breakaway
A SCHOOLGIRL was left in tears after she was the victim of vicious anti-English abuse at her Scottish school.
Sasha Bell-Newman, 13, was told to ‘**** off back to your own country’ by a fellow pupil.
Sasha was born in Dorset but moved to Scotland with her family when she was ten months old after they fell in love with the country on holiday.
She lives with her parents Robert and Teresa and four-year-old brother Ollie in Burntisland, on the Firth of Forth, and goes to Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy.
According to her mother, the pupils had recently been taught about the forthcoming independence referendum.
Mrs Bell-Newman, 44, said that on Wednesday the class was being encouraged to think about a national anthem that would ‘embrace Scottishness’ when the abuse occurred. ‘One of her class- mates turned to Sasha and said he was glad to have her in their team because she had won several Burns poetry competitions,’ she said.
‘He mentioned that she had achieved this without even being Scottish, a comment that was overhead by another pupil who started to shout and swear at her, telling her to “**** off back to your own country”.’
Yesterday former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the family’s local MP, contacted Mrs Bell-Newman to offer his sympathies. He also said he would contact the local education authority.
Mrs Bell-Newman said: ‘When I contacted the school later they were extremely apologetic and they have been really good in sorting this out.
‘But I fear this could be the tip of the iceberg and possibly being experienced by many others because of the passion being whipped up surrounding independence. We’re a very British family, but I’m afraid to put a proUnion sticker in my window.’
She added: ‘My concern is that the situation could possibly get totally out of control if nothing is done now before the referendum vote takes place later in the year.
‘The authorities and even the politicians must do something
‘We’re a very British family’
immediately to try and defuse the whole situation before it gets out of hand.’
She added that her daughter was too upset to go to school yesterday, but may return today.
Mrs Bell-Newman said she had received a phone call from Mr Brown yesterday. ‘He said he was very sorry about what had happened and would contact the education authorities,’ she said. He pointed out that his wife [Sarah] is English and said he hopes that what is happening is by a small minority [of Scots].’ James More, rector at Balwearie High School, said: ‘Any incident which may be motivated by prejudice is dealt with promptly.
‘Discussion has taken place with the parents of both children involved to ensure that no repeat of this behaviour occurs and the matter is resolved in a restorative manner.’
A Fife Council spokesman said all local authority schools have a ‘clear line of impartiality that they adhere to’ ahead of this year’s referendum. ÷ Vandals have smashed the rear windscreen of a car carrying a pro-UK sticker in Paisley, Renfrewshire, and scratched the word ‘Yes’ into a window.
The vehicle’s owner, 30-year-old civil servant Colin Todd, described the attack as a ‘political crime’.