Wow, what a disheartening and unfortunate event. As a soon-to-be mother, I absolutely could not imagine the horror of my child being bullied, and especially to such an extent as this.
A young autistic boy was targeted and bullied by a group of other children, who left him screaming with a wooden plank nailed to his skull. Have children really become so desensitized that they would enjoy something so sickening?
Maybe if the government wasn’t stepping in and labeling spanking as child abuse then more children would have some sense knocked into them like the rest of us had when we were that age.
According to his parents, Romeo Smith has always been an easy target for bullies considering he is autistic and can't defend himself. In this particular incident, the bullying began about a week prior to it evolved into physical harm.
Daily Mail reports:
Romeo Smith, nine, from Mansfield, was approached by the group who were waving sticks and calling him cruel names he climbed a tree to try and escape.
But when he tried to make his way home one of the yobs threw a plank of wood at him with a large nail protruding.
Mother Natasha, 30, a nurse, had been walking home with Romeo and her three other children after calling at her mother’s house nearby when Romeo was targeted.
‘Romeo had lagged slightly behind,’ said Natasha at the family home in Mansfield, Notts.
‘It’s usual for him to trail behind me a bit, he does it a lot because of his autism and it’s something I’m used to him doing.
‘He likes to stop and look at things. So I was ahead of him slightly.’
Romeo had trailed off and found himself trapped up a tree after running into the bullies. His father showed up looking for him, and the group of boys began to walk away. At that time, Romeo came down and began walking home with his father.
When the bullies noticed this, one of the boys turned and hurled a plank with nails at Romeo, where it became lodged in the back of his skull.
Romeo’s father said, “As Romeo was walking away one of the lads came running up behind him and threw a bit of wood with a nail in it.” Craig Smith continued, “I saw it just stuck there, in the back of his head and then Romeo started screaming and running towards me.”
“Now I feel I can’t let him out on his own because due to his ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder] he is very vulnerable,” his mother said, “And this has been happened and he hasn’t even told me about it. I just feel I wouldn’t be able to let him out because it could happen again and he probably wouldn’t mention it.”
Fox News reports:
Nottinghamshire Police told the BBC that they were investigating, but may pursue “restorative justice” rather than criminal charges.
The police station stated, “In cases such as this, where genuine remorse is shown and there is an understanding of the consequences of their actions, we try to mediate between both parties to avoid progressing down the criminal justice route.”
I hope each one of those bullies get exactly what they deserve.