Lawyers for a 10-year-old boy who says he has been bullied for five years are threatening to sue his primary school for failing to expel his alleged tormentors.
The parents of Declan Walker, a pupil at St James Lane Head Church of England primary in Burnley, Lancashire, claim he has suffered physical assaults and verbal abuse from two other 10-year-old boys since 1998.
He says he has been punched in the face between lessons. His mother, Marisa, says the two boys regularly call her son “cornflake kid” because he has eczema.
One of the alleged bullies is said to have been given a police caution after admitting some allegations of assault. Yet the parents say that, despite repeated complaints, Jennifer Brunskill, the head, has refused to exclude the two boys.
Now their lawyers have written to the school and Lancashire County Council to demand compensation, threatening a judicial review if the two boys are not removed.
The school says it operates “robust” anti-bullying and behaviour policies and denies the suggestion that it has failed to protect pupils.
It has banned the mother from the premises since last October. She is alleged on separate occasions to have abused the head, the chair of governors and one of the Year 6 pupils accused of bullying.
Declan and his alleged tormentors were all attending the school this week.
