that my daughter was assaulted today and there are no police available to deal with it

[Poshwellies]

DD whose 15, was quite badly assaulted in school today,suffered a 1 inch chunk out of her lip due to being being punched in the face by a girl with a ring on.

She was escorted home by a teacher and after I took her to the GP surgery to be examined and cleaned up, I called the police to report the assault,this was at 4.30.They said they would send out some officers asap.

Just had a call from the police saying sorry,but we are overrun at Glastonbury and have no available police to record the incident,we will try and get out tomorrow,blah blah..

Not Serious enough I guess,but you'd bloody well think they'd sort out police for local incidents,life doesn't stop just because of sodding Glastonbury.

thats terrible. Is your dd ok? What are the school going to do about it?

Make sure and write everything down! Can be easy to forget little things at a later date and take pics. . Thats terrible Poor her!

That isnt good.
Take some photos on your camera, timed and dated.

She's very shaken up.

Thanks for asking Spooky.

I have no faith in the school hence why I contacted the police.I will be calling the school first thing in the morning.

I can understand you being upset and angry but I guess the police can only do so much with the resources available.

My DD also experienced an in-school assault. The police, although they were unable to turn up immediately, were superb, understanding, professional and reassuring. Hpwever, I first had to insist that they acted as govt guidelines laid down about 4 years ago suggest that the police should not intervene unless the school did not handle the matter satisfactorily. In DDs case the school didn't and were worse than useless, but nonethless these are only guidelines, so if you get told that the school and not the police are the correct authority to deal with the problem don't accept being fobbed off.

I hope that your DD soon feels better and that the wretched assailant is dealt with, helping your DD to overcome the distress she is no doubt feeling at the present.

i'd be going straight out to rob the local post office.

I hope your DD is ok and that you are able to get some help sooner rather than later from the police.

What have school said about it all

And yes, as I did, ensure that you get as much detail from your DD now and write it down, as it is too easy to forget when questioned after a time has passed.

haha gigantaur,watch the crime rate in Somerset rise dramatically this weekend!

School weren't very forthcoming when I asked for details of the attack,they just said the girl in question would be dealt with and they are taking it seriously.I bloody well hope so too.

DD is adamant she can never go out again or return to the school,I'm hoping the police take a serious stance on this and she will see,it WILL NOT happen again and she is safe at school and in the neighbourhood (the girl lives about 2 miles away in a smaller village)

I need to find out tomorrow if this girl has been excluded for the attack.

I'm quietly seething inside.

I can understand that you want some Police there but in this case would an officer really have made much difference?

You know who did it and the police probably had more pressing crimes happening now not ones that have happened.

That's awful, I'm not suprised she's shaken up.

I guess the Police are in a position where they have to prioritise.
If I dialled 999 I would expect an immediate response and would expect that they came to deal with an emergency first rather than taking a statement from someone that is safely at home.

At least you are with her to give her lots of love and support. I hope she gets through this soon.

That's awful. I really hope your dd is ok and recovers (both physically and psychologically) very soon xx.
I had a similar experience with the police in 2001. I was cycling to my sister's from college when I was kicked off my bike and beaten by 2 men. I'd have been happier if they'd stolen my bike, at least then it would've had a reason behind it! I phoned 999 as they were still in the area but they took 14 hours to respond. If they had come out within the hour they may have caught the thugs as I saw them upto 1hr 40mins afterwards.
What really annoyed me was the fact that a few mins before they attacked me they threw a brick at a passing bus which shattered (but did not break from the frame) a side window and the police attended in 10mins!!
When I asked why they attended the bus so quickly but not me I was told 'someone could have been injured'!
I just don't understand how a possible injury was prioritsed over an actual injury. The attack destroyed my confidence and outgoing personality and even now, 9 years later, I won't go out in the dark alone (even well lit places).
The police have never caught anybody for the attack.

I hope you're dd is confident enough to go to school tomorrow without too much stress. Best wishes to her and good luck getting any kind of justice (suspension, possibly exclusion is in order I think). xxx

that is dreadful. i think like others said the police didn't view it as a priority as it is just a case of taking all the details, you know who did it etc etc so it isn't like it is a time critical thing if you know what i mean. hope your DD is ok what horrible thing to happen.

How is your dd today Posh? I think you should be demanding a meeting with head of house/year/headmaster to find out exactly what happened and what will be done to protect your dd in the future.

Why did the girl punch her?

I never understand this 'let the school handle it' viewpoint. It's assault, pure and simple, get the Police involved and press charges.

what a horrible thing to happen; I hope your daughter (and you) are feeling a bit better today

oh so sorry for your daughter, agree with above posters about writing everything down.
I would press charges against the girl in question, this is serious assault.
can you go to the police station in person?

Hi Poshwellies - you're in the same area as me it sounds. I hope you and your DD are feeling ok - and definitely press charges.

I've just shown my DH this thread (he works for the police) and he said that normal policing duties should not be affected by Glastonbury; staffing numbers shouldn't be affected as police officers at Glastonbury have been taken from all over the constabulary, not from one area specifically, as well as a large contingent of special constables.

Did they say when they would attend - or was it just open ended? I really hope that a police officer has been sent out to you by now, or that you have some more information about when they will. Take photographs of your DD and write everything down (emotions and how she feels, how it's affected her, what actually happened) now so it's all fresh (or as fresh as it can be).

Are you very close to glastonbury? It is so frustrating when the police can't attend - my DH recently got told by a call handler when he rang in a non urgent call a couple of weeks ago that if he lived in Bristol he wouldn't see a police officer for three days after a complaint.... Really helps to promote confidence in the police.

I would definitely press charges against her.

I'd also probably sue her in civil court for damages.

Just to fuck her over and make her life a misery.

And my kid would not be setting foot in that school again unless I knew for sure thugs like this punk ass girl weren't there.

School and police - call them - make them do their jobs.

Oh my god - your poor family. This is serious. If this happened to me in the street I'd press charges - and your poor daughter was seriously assaulted in a controlled environment - school.

That's just it, if she'd done this in the street the cops would have come.

And yet a school is public property as a street is.

Makes me sick, tbh.

Although you don't think much of the school, please keep calling and arrange to speak with the head or at very least Head of year. I used to work in a school and know that if you don't make a fuss, not a lot happens.

It's worth remembering that a child who acts with physical violence usually has troubles in their background. Maybe considder a meeting with all involved to discuss what happened. (Iknow you will be REALLY angry and so would I) but it often can do good to calmly talk about it.

Well,I finally recieved a call from a police officer this morning asking for details of the attack and the injuries (no mention of being busy with Glastonbury from her?!).

She wanted to know what the school were doing and as I hadn't heard from them,I called and spoke to someone who dealt with my daughter yesterday.She said the staff were all shocked at the vehemence of the attack and they had immediately excluded the girl from school for a 'period' of time.
She is only allowed back to study when her parents and herself have attended a meeting to discuss and I assume,has shown some remorse ?.

I had a good chat with the female police officer and she suggested that if my daughter was happy with the option,of all parties attending a 'Community Justice Panel'.

This is group meeting between myself and my daughter,a police officer ,the offender and
her parents and a facilitator who has trained in restorative justice.
I thought this would be the best option for my daughter as this gives her a safe place and time to ask why this girl felt the need to smash her face in (my daughter was supposed to have called another girl a name-daughter denies this).Police officer said they have had really good results with the panel as it forces the offender to explain their actions face to face infront of all effected.If she continues to bully or assualt my daughter after the panel meeting ,she will most likely be put infront of the courts.

Anyway,the police officer has gone around to the girls house to see if she will admit to the attack (school have witnesses and possibly, CCTV footage).If she denies the offence,she will be arrested for assault with wounding and probably be let off with a caution due to her age and having no previous

I'm quite happy with our decision to go forward with the panel,I only hope this will make this girl realise you can't go beating the shit out of people and not be reprimanded for it and also nip her issues with my daughter in the bud.Fingers crossed!

lefroglet We are about 20 miles away from Pilton,I'm still cross that a police officer couldn't attend yesterday,surely we aren't that swamped with crime at Glasto that there were NO local Pc's to attend!

Thanks for all your kind wishes,dd is ok after speaking to the PC and will return to school Monday.

I think I'm having some wine tonight!