August 20, 2009

Schoolgirl victim of racist bullying says tormentor's sentence is 'pants'

A schoolgirl driven to the brink of suicide by the taunts of a racist classmate described her tormentor’s sentence as "pants" after he was allowed to walk free from court. The victim, a 14-year-old mixed race girl, was repeatedly insulted with racist terms for six months by a 15-year-old, BNP supporting fellow pupil.

Last month the boy became the first school child to be convicted of racially aggravated harassment of a fellow pupil following a trial at Lincoln Youth Court. The conviction prompted questions over whether such racist bullying should be dealt with through criminal law or by schools themselves.

The boy could have been detained for up to two years in a young offenders’ institution but he was instead sentenced to a six month supervision order and made to pay £500 compensation to the girl, which will be paid by his father. He was also instructed to do 10 hours indirect reparation, the equivalent of community service. Another 15-year-old boy facing the same charge was found not guilty after a trial.

The victim, who tried to kill herself with an overdose of stress pills and painkillers, said she was "disappointed" with the sentence. She said: "When my mum told me the sentence I just thought 'Is that it? That's pants.' He has got a slap on the wrists and been told he was a naughty boy - that's all. He has not paid the price for what he has put me through and he will never have to suffer like I have. I want him to be out into a multi-cultural school where he is one of the only white pupils to see what it feels like to be in the minority. I want him to be in my shoes and see how he copes with that."

The girl, who is of mixed white English and black African heritage, was called "wog", "coon", "nigger", "gorilla" and "golliwog" by the boy. She also suffered abusive chants of "white, white, white is right, kick them out, fight, fight, fight" and was repeatedly told: "Go back to your own country, you don't belong here."

She wrote a suicide note and took an overdose on Jan 25 this year. She was then sectioned for six weeks in a psychiatric hospital before the family moved to a different part of the country.

After the sentencing her mother said: "He has ruined her life. This will be with her forever and she cannot just pick up and start again. We will always have the problem of mental health issues. He bullied her to the extent she actually wanted to die but he had no remorse. When he was found guilty we were on a high and thought we would finally get justice. But now we feel we have put ourselves out there and not got anything back.

During the case it emerged the boy was a known BNP supporter who actively tried to enlist other youths.

The victim’s mother said: "It's very sad and comes from ignorance more than anything. My daughter is British, she was born in this country and has a British passport. But they just think everyone living in the UK should be white and English.”

Telegraph

17 comments:

Mista Angree said...

The bastard BNP never disowned this evil thug nor his cunt of a dad who brainwashed the boy and put him up to this.

Jamie The Antifascist said...

Absolute bullshit, the so-called "justice" system is so messed up

Anonymous said...

Dreadful. The racist little shit should have been banged up.

Anonymous said...

I can think of a lot worse words than "pants" for this result.

Pete Green said...

I know you can't change it now but there's a better report in the Mail.

Racist BNP teenager who bullied girl, 14, to brink of suicide walks free from court

A teenage BNP supporter who drove a classmate to the brink of suicide escaped jail yesterday - to the dismay of his victim.

The 15-year-old waged a campaign of abuse against his 14-year-old victim at their secondary school, branding her a 'wog', 'gorilla', 'c**n', and 'n******', a court heard.

But although he faced a maximum penalty of two years detention and training, he escaped with a six month supervision order and an order for his parents to pay £500 in compensation to his victim.

Yesterday, the victim, who can be identified only as Natasha for legal reasons, welcomed the compensation award but said her tormentor should have been jailed.

A schoolboy who racially abused a 14-year-old classmate, driving her to the brink of suicide, was given a six month supervision order by a Lincoln magistrate today

Natasha said: 'He has got a slap on the wrists and been told he was a naughty boy - that's all.

'He has not paid the price for what he has put me through and he will never have to suffer like I have.'

Her mother added: 'My daughter attempted suicide because of the ordeal he put her through. If she had died he would have been looking at a manslaughter charge so to escape with a fine and a bit of supervision from the youth offending team seems extremely lenient.

'He told his friends he was happy she had taken an overdose but was sad she didn't die, because that leaves another black you-know-what in the country.'

The boy, who cannot be identified, was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment last month in the first successful prosecution of its kind.

BBC Asian race row as Sikh listeners threaten Muslim radio presenter who 'denigrated holy symbol'

Lincoln Youth Court heard he had taunted her with chants of 'White, white, white is right, kick them out, fight, fight, fight' - taken from a film about football hooliganism.

He told his victim: 'Go back to your own country, you don't belong here' during four months of abuse.


Second part coming up....

Pete Green said...

Second part of Mail report....

Natasha suffered in silence until she eventually attempted suicide in January this year.

She took a mixture of sleeping tablets and painkillers from her mother's medicine cabinet before writing a note requesting that nobody wore black at her funeral. She collapsed hours later at school, just as her mother discovered the note left at their home.

Natasha, who was born in Britain to a white mother and a father of African heritage, spent six weeks in a psychiatric hospital. She has now moved from the Lincoln area for a fresh start in another part of the country.

The boy lived with his father and mother, a housewife, in a village outside Lincoln.

Natasha's mother accused them of turning their son into a racist through their own views.

Police sources confirmed the boy, who had no previous convictions, supported the racist party and said he had tried to enlist other pupils to the cause.

At a sentencing hearing yesterday, Sunil Khanna, defending, told the court the boy was a promising footballer who had spent six years in Lincoln City FC's centre of excellence, but had given up the sport to join the Army cadets with a view to forging a career in the military.

Urging magistrates to impose a supervision order, Mr Khanna said the penalty would allow youth offending officers to 'explore his attitude towards race'.

Magistrates' Chairman Pam Newman agreed the order was the most 'suitable' punishment and sentenced him to six months supervision.

She also ordered him to carry out ten hours of 'indirect reparation' - the equivalent of community service for youth offenders, and ordered his parents to pay the £500 compensation together with £300 costs.

His parents, who claim almost £800 a month in working family tax credits and child tax credits, were also ordered to attend a session with a parenting support worker.

The boy was excluded from the school after the abuse came to light and is now at another school.

He was supported in court by his stockily-built father. The pair hid their faces as they were hustled away from the building by youths who had turned out to support the teenager.

Inspector Pat Coates of Lincolnshire Police said the 'targeted campaign' of abuse was one of the most serious cases of its kind he had ever dealt with.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the case was believed to represent the first time a child had been successfully prosecuted for racial abuse.

Anonymous said...

In all fairness, this is a lad of 15, just a lad, obviously influenced by racist adults.
A fine of £500, which his father has to pay, sends a direct lesson which is rather more than 'a slap on the wrist', as does community service and being hauled to the court in the frst place.
The victim has the consolation that her complaint was taken seriously.
£500 is not a small sum to be laughed off.

Anonymous said...

I know that we have had this discussion before but one also has to look at this boy and ask what abuse he is being subjected to?

This is the way the BNP and the like bring up their children - they are taught to think that they are superior because of their skin colour and that in turn makes then entitled to more and better than anyone else who is not white or a supporter of white supremacy. This inevitably leads to disappointment and isolation as the reality of the world dawns on them and it becomes apparent that this is not an apartheid world and one needs more than a white skin to get ahead.

This boy has been brought up to believe that what he is doing is right, is brave, is admirable and that he is standing up for his rights etc.

One really has to take a hard look at what is going on with the likes of the BNP youth group - few children who are brought up in this manner are able to break away from it. By professing these views they effectively isolate themselves socially and sooner or later are left with no social group except the freaks in the extreme right wing. It becoms a self feeding cycle.

He will now be hailed as a hero amongst the BNP and as a result he will be drawn more into the group. The awful truth is also that young children start to socialise with much older people in these groups and this in itself is also unhealthy.

I keep saying it but social services should be looking into what is going on here.

I Love Shaz said...

laugh but laugh,i used to be part of the biggest football gang in brum all shapes sizes and colours and what did the BNP do ? import a scouse specky twat and a wino from yorkshire...BRING BACK SHARON EBANKS.At least sharon had fun and saw the party for what it was.VOTE SHARON EBANKS

Cheeky said...

I've been looking at the NWN forum and they seem quite complimentary of LU.

Originally Posted by SIGRUN

I've just had a look at this site - http://www.jackson4leader.com

The fact that they have linked Lancaster UAF doesn't look very good, in fact it will put off anyone remotely sympathetic to their cause.

See http://www.jackson4leader.com/archive.html

I often read Lancaster UAF. It is there you find the truth on the BNP and you also find humour, sadly lacking on the far-right.

They call themselves 'anti-fascist' but I take no notice of that. People call me a fascist but I take no notice of that either.

I am only interested in the truth and the truth has no political label.

Very rarely will I waste my time looking in on the BNP website because it is too boring.

But Lancaster UAF ... I would say it is obligatory reading for those who want to know what is really going on. The comments are a scream, too.

Well done, jackson4leader.com. Very brave and insightful of you.

Raymond said...

Shame on the recommended comments on the Daily Mail article supporting the BNP or excusing the act of racism. If it was a real indicator of public opinion the BNP would would a landslide. The fact they don't implies a lot...

Anonymous said...

"Shame on the recommended comments on the Daily Mail article supporting the BNP or excusing the act of racism."

I thought the Daily Mail website was a BNP in-house magazine these days anyway. They dominate the internet but have less success getting bodies out on the street - bunch of keyboard jockys if you ask me!

Mail Sucks! said...

As from a week ago, the Daily Mail decided not to censor their comments online meaning the neo-Nazi trolls have a field day!

Anonymous said...

So, in 2009 and sixty years of multiracial Britain, it's okay to abuse a child for the colour of his or her skin, is it??

This tommyrot has got to stop NOW.

Anonymous said...

The bastard BNP never disowned this evil thug nor his cunt of a dad who brainwashed the boy and put him up to this.

I think commentators read to much into the case and certainly about the boys upbringing. You would think they were social workers who have handled the case! They take a hypothesis (with little or no anecdotal eveidence) and then write as if it were true i.e. brainwashing! Bullying has been going on for ever and there have been many more even worse cases than this. It highlights mans inhumanity to man. Such individuals focus on what disturbs them most i.e. looks, intelligence or in this case race. The court no doubt are attempting to rehabilitate him. Some comments here would condemn him to the prison system and then he would be lost forever and might even end up being BNP leader! Do we want to change behaviour or just rack up the opposition?

Anonymous said...

I used to be a member some time ago, and I have to say that over time young people would join for dubious reasons thinking they would be able to march around intimidating people. They didn’t last long because that’s not what they do. They just deliver leaflets, they don’t march anywhere. One youngster said it was not what he thought, and left. And after time so did the others. I left because I changed my mind about various things, and never went back. But you can’t actually blame the party for what kids think its like. And that’s what the comments are saying at the bottom of these media reports.

Anonymous said...

VOTE SHARON EBANKS

She may have set herself up on a 'one-woman crusade' against the BNP and praised Gerry Gable and Searchlight but the fact remains, she hasn't yet renounced her fascism, so she is still the enemy. So don't expect anyone like me to vote for you until you do, Sharon!