Pupil, 10, probed over racial assault

By epearcy

A 10-YEAR-OLD boy is being investigated by police after a fellow primary school pupil was injured in what officers suspect may have been a racially-motivated assault.

Police were called in after an allegation was made of a violent incident during a "scuffle" in the playground at Inverteign Primary School in Teignmouth, Devon.

Mother Lisa Budd, 47, said her son Ricky had to be taken to hospital and needed two stitches for a cut to his head. The school called her to say her son had been involved a "scuffle" with another 10-year-old boy.

CCTV footage has been reviewed and police, who say they are treating the incident as possibly racially motivated, are still waiting to speak to everyone involved.

They confirmed they were investigating the incident in which a boy was allegedly assaulted.

A police spokesman said: "This is a very unusual incident. We are working closely with the school to resolve the issue.

"We would like to reassure the public that this type of incident does not happen often."

Detective Sergeant Mike Brewer, of Teignbridge CID, confirmed: "Detectives are investigating an alleged assault, which could potentially be racially motivated, at Inverteign Primary School involving two 10-year-old boys."

He stressed they had yet to interview the parties involved.

Ms Budd feared the alleged assault on her mixed-race son may have been racially motivated.

She said: "What sort of world do we live in when we are unable to send our children to primary school without this sort of thing happening?"

She was phoned on Tuesday and told by the school her son had been involved in a "scuffle".

She said: "When I arrived, it was more than clear that my son was visibly in shock and deeply upset.

"After taking him to Teignmouth Hospital for treatment and two stitches, I called the police."

The next day, she met the police at the school and saw CCTV footage of the incident.

She said: "This could have been footage of several drunken youths in the middle of a busy town on a Saturday night, which unfortunately, we are all to used to seeing on a regular basis on the news.

"But this was not drunken youths, this was in a primary school playground in a small Devon seaside town."

Ms Budd said the school handled the matter in a "superb" manner but she wanted to highlight her experience to other parents.

Inverteign headteacher David Clifford confirmed an incident happened in school grounds. The school had dealt with the matter. Declining to comment further, he said: "As a school, we did everything we could."