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Tortured teenager dumped in shallow Leeds grave
FOUR schoolchildren stripped a 15-year-old and tortured him before dumping him unconscious in a shallow grave in Leeds.
The 15-year-old, who has special needs, had his clothes burned as the four strong gang – including a girl aged 14, and two boys aged 11, and one 13-year-old – launched a savage attack after luring him to their den in woodland near Middleton Circus.
Leeds Crown Court heard they punched, kicked and stamped on
his head as he begged for mercy during the attack last August.
They whipped him with tree branches and hit him with planks of wood.
He had lit cigarettes pushed up his nose, was spat on before one of the 11-year-olds urinated on him.
Prosecutor, James Keeley said: "The gang showed him no pity and told him
to shut up, otherwise they were going to kill him. They placed him in a ditch with pieces of wood over him as perhaps a makeshift grave."
A Leeds Crown Court judge said it was an "appalling" attack as he locked up the two older children he described as ringleaders.
The 14-year-old girl, now 15, was given 15 months detention and the 13-year-old boy was locked up for 12 months. The two 11-year-olds, now 12, were handed two-year supervision orders with a three month 8pm to 7am curfew.
Their victim, who was shaking uncontrollably, crawled free after the attack and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary for treatment to multiple and bruising and lacerations all over his body.
The court heard he suffers flashbacks and is being treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had been lured to the den by the girl before the others pounced.
Mr Keeley said the four defendants gave police various reasons for the attack, saying their victim had stolen money and a mobile from one of their friends and had been sending rude text messages to the girl.
After the attack the gang walked off in the direction of Middleton Park. The four pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grevious bodily harm with intent.
The court heard the girl, who is studying for seven GCSEs, had hoped to work with children when she grows up.
Sentencing the four, Judge Kerry Macgill said: "This is one of the most difficult cases I have ever had to deal with. It is almost like a scene out of 'Lord of The Flies' where children are left to their own devices can do simply appalling things to other children."
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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