Boy, 11, with Asperger's spends three days in hospital after being viciously kicked and punched by gang of school bullies

By Sara Malm

PUBLISHED: 13:48 EST, 28 July 2012 | UPDATED: 06:38 EST, 29 July 2012


Bullied: Mackenzie-Graye Evans, was hospitalized after a gang of school-bullies attacked him

Bullied: Mackenzie-Graye Evans, was hospitalized after a gang of school-bullies attacked him

A young boy with special needs was attacked by a gang of bullies at his junior school who beat him so severely he ended up in hospital.

McKenzie-Graye Evans spent three nights in hospital after he was kicked and punched by three other boys who had followed him to the toilet in between lessons.

The 11-year-old, who suffers from a range of disabilities, including Asperger’s syndrome, was put in hospital on the last day of term at Edge Hill Junior School in Stapenhill, Staffordshire.

As well as Asperger’s, McKenzie-Graye suffers from dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyspraxia.

His parents claim their son has been badly bullied by the boys since he started at Edge Hill four years ago and say staff at the school has failed in their care of duty.

After the attack McKenzie-Graye was bruised so badly that it caused severe infections and bleeding under his skin, and doctors said they were concerned for his health as there was a high possibility that the infection could spread into his bones.

His father Shane Robinson said: ‘He came home on his last day of school and could hardly walk because he was in so much pain.

‘He spent three nights in hospital before being discharged and he’s at home on medication now, but he still isn’t right at all.”

Mr Robinson said the bullying began with typical name-calling, pushing and shoving, but the physical abuse started last year.

‘Because of his special needs McKenzie-Graye will react - never in a violent way, however - and they laugh at his reactions.

Earlier this year the physical abuse became so severe that his son was refusing to go to school and threatened to kill himself.

 

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‘It was horrendous to hear our boy say that he wanted to end his own life.

As a result his parents pulled him out of school for two weeks while the situation was taken care and after the time away McKenzie-Graye returned on half-days to avoid coming into contact with the bullies.

Edge Hill Junior school in Burton-upon-trent, Staffordshire where McKenzie-Graye Evans was attacked on the last day of term

Edge Hill Junior school in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire where McKenzie-Graye Evans was attacked on the last day of term

His mother Nadine Evans said the attack on her son at the school in Stapenhill, Burton-upon-Trent had broken her heart.

‘He doesn’t deserve this. He’s seen as an easy target because he’s vulnerable.

‘To see him upset, distressed, panicking and with physical injuries where yobs have attacked him is not what any parent ever wants to see.

‘He only went to that school because we struggled getting him into a special needs school.

‘It makes me so angry to hear my boy talking about suicide at his age.

Victim: McKenzie-Graye was punched and kicked so badly his parents took him to the hospital

Victim: McKenzie-Graye was punched and kicked so badly his parents took him to the hospital

Ms Evans said the family have made endless complaints to the school but I feel the school was not listening.

'I think it’s totally unacceptable.

‘These bullies have not only attacked him but hospitalised him and it’s shocking that this has taken place in a junior school.

‘McKenzie-Graye has been left anxious, scared to go anywhere and he has no self-esteem whatsoever. These lads have made his life hell for four years.’

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said an assault was reported and that they have visited the three alleged attackers in their home.

‘We gave the boys and their parents suitable advice and this course of action was agreed by the victim’s mother.’

Michael Manger, head teacher at Edge Hill Junior School, says the issue of bullying is taken very seriously and says the school was unaware of the attack.

‘This incident was not reported to any member of staff on the day or subsequently and I am very sorry to hear the news that one of our pupils has been taken into hospital as the result of an incident.’

He added that any incidents of bullying are dealt with promptly and rigorously by the school and that in McKenzie-Graye’s case the school has been working ‘closely’ with him and his parents.

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Look at all the ridiculously succesful people who have had these so called 'disabilities': einstein, churchill, da vinci, etc I have Adhd and Aspergers and was been bullied out of a school when I was younger. Now I am 18, in college, have my own place and a beautiful girlfriend who accepts me for who I am. Chances are mckenzie will grow up to be the happiest and most succesful kid in that school!

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"He added that any incidents of bullying are dealt with promptly and rigorously by the school and that in McKenzie-Graye’s case the school has been working ‘closely’ with him and his parents." which means they have been ignoring it hoping it will go away

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"There is no way a child of mine would attend this mainstream school ....I can't believe that the child had been bullied at this school for 4 years it's ever likely he has got anxiety on top of everything else..4 years whatever are the parents thinking of!!!I would rather have kept him off school..should have sent him to a special school..just feel SO ANGRY for the boy. - Grannie Morton, Newcastle, Staffs, 29/7/2012 15:57-" Special schools aren't always good for children with SEN who have normal or above average intelligence. Many find that they need the extra support that special schools offer; but the special school can't always meet their needs because their intelligence is above average.

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"McKenzie-Graye returned on half-days to avoid coming into contact with the bullies." He should have gone back to school full-time and the bullies should have come into contact with the cane. Every time they bullied him - six. The message would soon have permeated their brains that "Bully someone = pain". As for the police saying "We gave the boys and their parents suitable advice" I can only hope that's a polite euphemism for "They soiled themselves when we told them what would happen to them if they did it again" but sadly I fear it actually meant "We asked them very nicely if they wouldn't mind not doing it again and they said 'Whatever'".

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As a parent governor at a governors meeting I brought up the subject of behaviour in class . And I was told in condescending terms by a fellow parent governor,a teacher in a local primary school. We don't want perfect kids.I can't help thinking if her children where bullied she would be in the heads office like a rat up a drain pipe.

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Working closely with the victims family, shouldn't teachers be working closely with, and informing the bullies parents that they wont tolerate such behaviour from children yet to rech their teens. It should be the bullies missing days of school not the victim.

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There is no way a child of mine would attend this mainstream school ....I can't believe that the child had been bullied at this school for 4 years it's ever likely he has got anxiety on top of everything else..4 years whatever are the parents thinking of!!!I would rather have kept him off school..should have sent him to a special school..just feel SO ANGRY for the boy. - Grannie Morton, Newcastle, Staffs, 29/7/2012 15:57--------------- You can`t "just send them to a special school".There are not enough places and you have to fight the LEA sometimes for years,when they insist that a school can meet their needs.And often if you try to home-ed,SS get involved and accuse you of bad parenting.

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This story has had me in tears! My son has ADHD and was targeted by bullies at his old school - it went from verbal abuse to them taking things out of his bag and throwing it in puddles, to them planting their property on him and saying he had stolen it to them hitting him. They even tripped him and he broke his arm! We approached the school numerous times and was told 'boys will be boys'... The headmaster told me that the boys involved didn't like my sons behaviour (hes impulsive one of the main traits of ADHD, its not his fault!!!) but that if he apologised to the bullies for the way he acted then they would probably want to be friends with him again!! In the end due to my son who is 8 saying he wanted to kill himself and was harming himself so he didnt have to go to school we pulled him out and home schooled him!! We contacted OFSTED and made an official complaint. These bullies NEED to be stopped before something terrible happens. Poor lad :(

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Ahh another school with a "zero tolerance" policy for bullying then huh? (Translates as if there aren't any bullies we will train some of the pupils to be bullies because we cannot tolerate having only well behaved pupils and teachers).

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"That is why mainstream education will never be suitable for every child with a disability. School is no environment for the emotionally vulnerable, and pretending it is will not save these kids from misery." - Julie, Leicester, UK, 29/7/2012 14:25 Or how about parents and teachers make an effort to teach what behaviour is acceptable? What kind of a world do we live in when we accept that bullying is a normal thing for people to do, and can't be bothered to teach our kids right from wrong?

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