A gang of rowdy teenagers screamed abuse at passers-by who attempted to help a 14-year-old girl during a brutal attack in Dudley town centre on Saturday, June 20. The victim was left with black eyes, lumps all over her head, whiplash, bruises, grazes and a severe concussion.
Attack Details and Footage
Shocking phone footage, which BirminghamLive decided not to publish, showed the young victim being yanked off a bench by her hair in Market Place. She was repeatedly hit by a young female attacker as those around her watched and laughed. Further footage showed the attacker on top of the victim in the middle of the road outside the former Dudley Police Station in New Street, as a woman intervened and said: 'Get off her.' The aggressor then appeared to square up to the woman and shouted 'who are you touching?' Another clip showed the girl angrily pointing at the woman and slapping her hand away as she shouted: 'Who the f**k are you?'
Further Incidents and Witnesses
A clip filmed in Priory Road showed a man attempting to restrain the girl's attacker, only to be pushed and shoved by teens who screamed at him to 'get off her'. The man was then pulled from behind by a hooded teen, who appeared to lash out. The camera then panned back to the victim and captured the moment she was pushed in the face by one of the crowd, who said: 'Look what you've f*****g done.'
Victim's Father Speaks Out
The victim's father told BirminghamLive his daughter had been in Dudley with a friend. 'The next thing we know, we had a phone call from our daughter screaming that something's happened,' he said. 'You can see it was set up because the camera started rolling before the attack started.' The 38-year-old father said his daughter's bag, phone, power bank and shoes were also stolen during the attack. 'She's got black eyes, lumps all over her head, whiplash because they yanked her hair, bruises, grazes and a severe concussion, a massive headache - she took a very brutal attack,' he said. The father said seeing footage of the incident had been 'traumatising', adding: 'It's hit me hard, and her mom even harder. We feel like we've failed as parents by not protecting our daughter. It was traumatising seeing my child being stamped all over and punched. They literally tortured my daughter.'
Police Investigation
West Midlands Police has confirmed an investigation is under way following the assault, which happened at around 6.30pm. A force spokesperson said: 'Officers have been carrying out CCTV enquiries and are working hard to understand exactly what’s happened. Thankfully, the girl was not seriously injured but has understandably been left shaken.' Anyone who was in the area at the time or has any information that could help officers is asked to call 101, or use the live chat option at www.west-midlands.police.uk, quoting crime number 20/293621/26.
