Femi Ashekun/
The decision of the Avon and Somerset Police in the UK to not prosecute a white woman who assaulted a 12-year-old Black autistic boy in an unprovoked attacked, which appeared to have been driven by racial prejudice, has been decried by the victim’s family.
The woman had hit the unarmed victim, identified as Antwon Forrest, on the head with a six feet boat paddle, leaving him with a deep gash on his forehead.
The woman has not been formally identified by the police.
Antwon had been playing with friends at Conham River Park, Bristol, on March 26, when the woman targeted the group, accusing them of throwing mud balls in the lake.
Antwon was reportedly the only Black boy present and seemed to have been singled out by the woman.
According to his dad, Tyran, he was told the woman had targeted his son and hit him with the paddle, yelling, “Who else wants some?” at the children.
“You cannot get away with something like this,” Tyran told Metro.co.uk. “I understand her having a go at the children if they were throwing mud balls at others – she has every right to do that.”
An online video which captured part of the incident shows the woman acting aggressively towards the boys and trying to intimidate them.
See video:
Yet, she claimed in her statement to the police that she was intimated by the group and had acted in self defence.
She further claimed that the boat paddle which was in her hand had mistakenly hit Antwon.
The police, in their report, cleared her of any wrongdoing and agreed with her claim that she was acting in self defence.
According to a letter sent to the family by the police, the woman claimed she had “pushed Antwon away because he challenged her and she felt threatened by him and the surrounding group”.
The police therefore decided “no further action will be taken in this case”.
However, the video also shows her walking away angrily from the boys without showing any remorse or concern at the sight of Antwon, who was bleeding from his wounds.
Reports say victim’s mental health has suffered gravely from the incident, with the lack of accountability form police further aggravating his condition.
“I felt so disregarded, like they don’t want to do anything about it,” Tyran said hours after receiving the letter. “I felt powerless.”
His sister, Antonia, shared the letter and the pictures from the incident on Instagram yesterday, and since then the post has been liked more than 57,000 times and shared by hundreds of people.
Tyran described as Antwon as a “happy child, who is really popular at school” and has a passion for rugby and sports in general.
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