'Abhorrent attack on two innocent boys'

A PAIR of teenage thugs left a boy having to breathe through a tube following an attack which saw them repeatedly stamp on his head.

The yobs, who were 13 and 15 at the time of the incident and cannot be named for legal reasons, were sentenced to a combined 13-and-a-half years detention at Minshull Crown Court yesterday after they pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

As a result of the attack, on Denmark Street, Chadderton, in the early evening of February 15, one of the victims requires round-the-clock hospital care and may never fully recover.

The victims, who were 14 and 17, were travelling to their local boxing club in Chadderton when they were approached by the attackers.

CCTV footage showed the four have a brief conversation ­- believed to be about an argument on Facebook ­- before the eldest defendant, now 16, launched himself at the older of the two victims.

The footage showed him repeatedly hit the boy in the head before dragging him to the ground and stamping on his head.

Upon seeing the boy fall to the ground, the younger of the attackers, now 14, joined in and repeatedly stamped on and hit the boy in the head even while he was unconscious.

While the younger boy continued to stamp, the elder turned his attention to the other boy who he took to the ground and punched, kicked and stamped on him before they then fled the scene.

Arrested

The victims were taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital and while the youngest of the two suffered minor injuries the elder was transferred to Salford Royal Hospital for specialist neurological treatment, where he remains.

The older attacker was arrested later that day and days later the younger attacker was caught, Miss Thomson prosecuting told the court that he "laughed" when he was shown the attack on CCTV footage.

The attackers had no previous convictions but the court heard how they had both had problems with violence in schools which had seen them excluded, the elder had been warned over an incident on one occasion before.

The younger attacker received six years' detention while the older attacker received seven-and-a-half years.

Judge Leslie Hull said: "There is CCTV footage that shows what happened.

"It shows you approaching your victims' group, you can be seen speaking with the other group and then it is you who launched the attack.

"You (16 year-old) first of all launched your fists and you (14 year-old) joined in when he went to the ground and you stamped on his head and punched him while he was lying on the ground.

"The boy has a severe injury to his brain, he is still in hospital and needs a tube to breathe and a tube to feed.

Devastating

"He is still in hospital and it is likely he will never make a full recovery. His injuries have been described as life changing."

Detective Inspector Rocque Fernandes, from GMP's Major Incident Team, said: "This was an abhorrent attack on two innocent boys who were simply walking down the street.

"The violence these teenagers used was incomprehensible and has resulted in a young lad remaining in hospital with life-changing injuries.

"Attacks like these do not just cause physical injuries to the victims but leave the families to deal with the devastating consequences."

• Despite requests in court by the Chronicle to have the guilty pair named, the application was refused.