The father of a 12-year-old boy assaulted while at school is furious that police have failed to take details of the incident for two weeks because of a mix-up.
Year 7 Matravers School pupil Brandon Biles, from Greenhills, Edington, was allegedly headbutted by an older pupil as he walked to class on February 25.
Brandon’s father Jamie Stewart called police on the day of the assault but they still hadn’t interviewed Brandon two weeks later, and even asked him to take pictures of the injuries himself.
Mr Stewart said: “Brandon apparently put his thumb up to this kid, who thought he was swearing at him, and he then headbutted Brandon.
“He was about to continue his attack when a teacher stepped in to stop it. I phoned the police the same day and they still haven’t come out to see Brandon.
“They’ve passed me around and around from one police station to another and they’ve given me no reason for the delay. That’s not good enough and as far as I’m concerned they’re not doing their job properly.
“About a week before the incident a neighbour lost a toy plane in a tree in our road. I saw this thing and took it in my house. I was going to throw it away. It costs about £19.95 – I checked it in the Argos catalogue.
“The following morning I had the police at my door looking for the toy plane. The officer said I could be charged with criminal damage if I had thrown it away.
“It’s strange that they will come out so quickly to investigate a toy but they won’t come out to see my son who’s been assaulted.”
Sergeant Peter Auburn, of Melksham police, explained the delay, saying: “We have what are called scheduled appointments and there was a bit of a mix-up over this.
“I think someone at HQ arranged for the meeting to take place at Devizes instead of Warminster and on the other occasion the police constable who was going to take the statement had to cancel at the last minute, for what I presume was a more pressing matter.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel