Boy loses finger fleeing 'attack' at Abertillery school

Shantal Bailey claims her son Raheem had suffered "racial and physical abuse" as well as other forms of bullying since he started at Abertillery Learning Community last September.

Matters came to a head earlier this week when her son "called me in tears... saying that he's being bullied", Ms Bailey said, adding that a teacher had allegedly threatened to put Raheem in detention "despite him being the one that’s getting picked on".

She said she went to the school on Monday and spoke to staff, who "reassured [me] that everything would be handled by the Tuesday morning".

But the following day, Raheem was allegedly "attacked and beaten" by a group of children during morning break time.

"He was pushed to the ground and then repeatedly kicked," his mum said. "Consequently, Raheem made a desperate attempt to leave the school grounds in order to escape the situation."

While trying to flee, Raheem caught his finger in a fence, "causing the skin to strip and the finger to break in half", Ms Bailey said.

Raheem's finger had to be amputated because of an injury he suffered while fleeing the alleged attack. Picture: courtesy of Shantal Bailey

Initially, when the school told Ms Bailey about her son's injury, she alleges they "told me that the ambulance wouldn’t arrive for two hours, but advised me not to drive Raheem to A&E myself".

He was eventually taken to a minor injury unit and the family was then told he would require surgery at another hospital.

Raheem is now recovering but mum Shantal says he is in "a lot of pain". Picture: courtesy of Shantal Bailey

Ms Bailey said they then spent "five hours waiting for an ambulance to transfer us" to Swansea where doctors said Raheem could lose his finger.

"I had to explain this to him while he sat there in agony," Ms Bailey said.

"After six hours of surgery to save it, which was ultimately unsuccessful, his finger had to be amputated," she added. "From the day of the incident until now Abertillery Learning Community have not reached out to me to check on his well-being."

Ms Bailey said she had reported the matter to the police. Raheem is now recovering after his operation but he remains in "a lot of pain", his mother said.

A spokesperson for Abertillery Learning Community said: “We are currently working closely with Gwent Police and the local authority to establish the full details of the incident.

"The well-being and safety of our pupils and staff remains of paramount importance. We will not be commenting further at this time.”

Gwent Police confirmed it is investigating the incident, after receiving a report on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the force said: “We received a report of an incident at a school in Abertillery around 1pm on Wednesday, May 18 where an 11-year-old boy was injured.

"A multi-agency meeting has taken place and we’re working with the school as part of our ongoing enquires.”