Mum speaks out after report into hammer attack on her son

9:50am Thursday 9th September 2010

By Scott D'Arcy

THE mother of a 15-year-old who was left brain damaged after a vicious hammer attack has said Ridgeway School let down both her son and his attackers.

Henry Webster, now 19, still suffers short-term memory loss as a result of being struck repeatedly with a claw hammer in an assault by a gang of Asian youths on the tennis courts at the Wroughton secondary school in January 2007.

Yesterday saw the publication of the executive summary of a serious case review which was compiled by the Swindon Local Safeguarding Children Board.

Henry’s mother, Liz Webster, said the family were relieved the report finally acknowledged there had been a racial element of the attack.

But she added that the report was long overdue and did not go far enough in asking questions of the local education authority, Swindon Borough Council.

“We as a family are delighted that for the first time there is some acceptance that this was a racial attack,” she said.

“For the first time we are able to point out that he was an innocent victim of a boiling situation within the institution.

“While Henry has been the primary victim, we are, and have always been, of the firm belief that this school also let down the young Asian pupils who were eventually prosecuted for this attack.

“They have been criminalised and demonised – had their integration been properly handled we are certain this attack would not have happened.

“This school’s race policy was not worth the paper it was written on and there was no cohesive approach to dealing with matters of race.

“However, we are very concerned that the report has failed to address many of the failings which surrounded our family’s treatment throughout this terrible episode in our lives.

“The criticism of the local authority is tantamount to a whitewash as it is so minimal and limited.”

At the time it emerged Henry had agreed to fight a fellow pupil “one on one” to end the harassment which he thought he and his friends were experiencing and because of peer pressure.

Henry said the report had cleared his name and now he could concentrate on his future, working part-time towards his A-Levels at St John’s Community School, in Marlborough.

His mother has called for a public inquiry and for the full report to be published.

“We firmly believe that the entire report should be published in full,” she said.

“This report asks more questions than it answers and if we had the energy to keep reliving it we would keep going.

“But from a Swindon point of view there should be a public inquiry – I want lessons to be learned and I don’t want any children to go through what Henry’s been through.”