Boy bullied over mum’s looks
Retro pin-up says son, six, has not been in school for months after abuse
A SIX-YEAR-OLD has been driven out of the classroom by bullies – because his mum is a 40s-style pin-up.
David Belcher has missed six months of education after being taken out of St Paul’s Infant School, in Hillary Road, Maidstone, by mum Suzanne O’Neill after she claims he was physically and verbally abused by other pupils.
According to Miss O’Neill, the torment reached a peak when another child urinated on David’s jumper.
She said. “The bullying was awful. We had to have a police escort to walk home as I was scared of what might happen.
“I don’t want David to be out of school but it got to the point that he was starving himself because he was so worried.”
The 25-year-old contacted police after a fake Facebook page, with spiteful comments, was set up using a photo of her in the profile.
She also reported being threatened by a parent at the school gates. She said: “Someone wrote I was a scrubber and other people wrote nasty things about David. When I complained to the school, a parent shouted in my face.”
The mother-of-one believes the bullying was triggered by her career as a 40s-style pin-up model. “It is very retro and very tastefully done” she said, “It is not like I go topless.”
Miss O’Neill, of Waterlow Road, Maidstone, says she alerted Kent County Council when she removed David, but that nearly half a year later they have failed to find him a suitable alternative school.
And she said she is struggling to tutor David at home as she is partially deaf and dyslexic.
She said: “I’ve been told when he eventually does get a space, he will have to go back a year because of the time he’s had off.” Miss O’Neill has now complained to the Department of Education.
The Kent Messenger was unable to contact anyone at St Paul’s regarding claims as the school is on half-term.