DD assaulted in Manchester

[Livinganewadventure]

My DD17 went into Manchester with her boyfriend after school. She was being a bit daft practising her sidekicks (Morecambe and Wise style). She accidentally landed about a metre behind a girl and made her jump. DD apologised.

The girl and her female (14-15 years old) friends started ranting at DD. Then, DD was thumped in the face and knocked to the floor. The boys in the group started trying to hit DD’s boyfriend so he couldn’t go and help.

A couple of homeless men asked DD if she knew the girls and when she said, no, they helped her to get away. DD asked the homeless men to go and get her BF. Which they did.

All this happened in a main, busy shopping area, two weeks ago. She’s only just told me as she thought I would probably stop her from going into the city. I don’t know what to do or say. She seems okay and doesn’t want to report it.

I don’t really know why I’m writing on here, other than I’m struggling to get my head around things.

Jeez that's scary, is Manchester not usually safe? I'm going in a couple of months and never even witnessed stuff like that before I'd be terrified

@Toopdeloop I’m sorry you had this experience. It shows some people are wanting to be provoked into a fight. I think, like you, the assault was a shock rather than traumatic. It is the first time she’s ever been hit by anyone in a violent manner.

Yeah also if she had really been punched in the face I think you would have seen evidence of this on her face.

She landed about a metre away and "made the girl jump" then got punched in the face? 🤨 This obviously isn't an accurate version of events though is it.

God this site is pissing me off recently. Obviously the OP hasn’t taught her to go around side kicking in public, she’s a teenager and was mucking around, which resulted in her getting attacked.

The victim blaming (and even blaming her mum) is unreal

I second both comments here.

Crikey! A lot of victim-blaming on this thread!

Yep, they always come out at night.

I've seen people start fights over absolutely nothing so why are posters saying the ops daughter is lying?

A couple of important truths for some commenters:

1. Some teenagers will beat people up with very little provocation.

1. This behaviour is not justified.

That is awful! At least she sounds ok.
I f I could I would be seeking out those homeless men if they regularly sleep rough in the same area and buying them a coffee and sandwiches for helping her. How decent, unlike those nasty teenage brats

Where did this happen? I'm from MCR and not seen such violence in 25 years but I'm aware that there can be some awful things happen. You need to tell your DD that the city isn't safe (same true anywhere) and she needs to keep her wits about her and keep herself to herself.

A kid got stabbed outside my friend's house in Stretford which is not a bad area (not great but not usually rough). 2 boys from DS school got mugged at 9am in Altrincham. They got their trainers, phones and drained their bank.

I don't care if its victim blaming. It's unacceptable behaviour to go doing high kicks near other passers by. I think she needs to take the lesson and be grateful it wasn't much worse.

Definitely not what I’d call safe. Certain areas are worse than others. Piccadilly Gardens in particular gets a bad reputation - Crackadilly Gardens, it’s sometimes called.

I have no idea what "side kicks" even are, I can't picture it 🤷‍♀️ but it doesn't sound like something sensible to be doing in the middle of the street. I'm sorry she was attacked, it must hsve bedn very scary, but perhaps she will more aware of how she behaves in public now.

I haven’t a clue what they are either.

If you've not heard of Morecambe and Wise - Google.

I always wondered about the parents of such teenagers who do things like attack others just because they can. And now I see they are normal people who post on MN- and blame the victim. Having someone jump around in a silly way is absolutely no excuse to attack them. Call them a twat at worst. Some posters on this thread need to question what is and isn't acceptable behaviour in society. I'll give you a clue: attacking people in the street really isn't.

I’ve heard of Morecambe and Wise but also absolutely no idea what a sidekick is.

I did actually Google it, and tried M&W on YouTube but I’m none the wiser. Since she landed near the girl who hit her, I’m assuming it’s a jumping thing.

Your young daughter was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by a group, while her boyfriend was beaten by others in the group.

Has it not occurred to you to report this assault to the police? There will be cctv available, probably from multiple sources in a busy main shopping area. I'm shocked this hasn't been your immediate reaction.

Didn't you see any bruising on her face at the time?

I saw two teenagers get the shit kicked out of them, by other teenagers, in Manchester. for the 'crime' of being goths once.

Some people need very little 'provocation' to be violent to others.

Nobody deserves to be assaulted and I'm very sorry this happened to your daughter.

Doing 'side kicks' in the city centre is going to put people on edge and not going to end well. Particularly around more street wise teens who have possibly been victims of violence themselves in the past, it might be a defensive mechanism. They see someone acting threateningly and react to it. I'm not excusing their behaviour, it's wrong to attack someone. But practicing side kicks where people are around, will have them scared wondering what your DD intentions were, especially if she got unexpectedly close and is acting unpredictably. Their fight or flight instinct may have kicked in that moment.

Unfortunately this is the world we live in. My advice would be don't invade people's personal space, you don't know how they might react.

I think I need someone to video themselves doing one of these side kicks then post it.

I have been around a very long time when it comes to teens.

This story doesn’t stack up, and I imagine she is in trouble and forewarning you. Why tell you 2 weeks after the event?! No one does side kicks for ‘fun’ in a busy high street.

Your dd wasn’t the one that was hurt, otherwise you would have known weeks ago.

I would be asking if you need to prepare for a police visit.

There is not a chance she would be going to Manchester again until she learnt how to behave properly in public.

Obviously my post does not apply if your dd is ND and usually struggles to know what is appropriate in a public space.

Sorry this happened to your daughter. Sure, she may have been doing something a bit daft, but don't we all sometimes? The reaction of the group shows that they were real nasty, bully types. Hopefully your DD will at least have become a bit more streetwise and know to give gangs of teens a wide berth in future.

I do sidekicks and I'm over 50. Eric Morecambe did them until he was 60. What a load of bollocks.