Teenager kicked, punched and stamped on by gang of 10 in Rotherham

Jack Roberts, aged 17, was with his girlfriend and four others when a 10-strong gang started hurling homophobic abuse towards the group.

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Sticking up for the teenager the abuse was directed at, Jack, from Thrybergh, confronted the gang and then found himself the target of its attention.

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Jack, who is serving a business apprenticeship, was set upon by the yobs and found himself, kicked, punched and stamped on as he curled up in a ball on the ground in a bid to protect himself from the blows.

One of the attackers used a knuckle duster as the violence was meted out in a field close to Winterhill School, Kimberworth, on Saturday night.

And Jack was left with a number of footprint marks over his body – including one on his head.

Police officers alerted to the incident, which is believed to have been filmed by witnesses, took Jack to hospital and alerted his family to the incident.

They also took witness statements from those at the scene.

Jack has since been discharged from hospital but is due to return tomorrow for scans.

His furious mum Jodie Roberts, 36, has shared photographs of her son’s injuries on Facebook in an appeal for people who have seen the video footage of the attack to come forward to help police officers identify the culprits.

She said she is proud of her son for challenging the gang over the homophobic abuse they doled out.

“Jack had only actually known the boy the abuse was directed at for about two hours but he knows right from wrong and I am so proud of him for trying to protect someone else," he said.

“Jack isn’t a fighter, he isn’t like that, he just said to the gang ‘don’t say that’ when they started dishing out homophobic comments to one of the boys with him and his girlfriend.

“He said that he realised he had made a mistake when they then turned on him and before he knew it he was being kicked down the field. They were kicking, punching and stamping on him while his girlfriend was trying to get then off him.

“There was 10 of them against one, so he stood no chance and he said all he could do was curl up in to a ball to try to protect himself.”

Jodie, who also has an eight-year-old son, said the gang was armed.

The attackers are believed to have been aged between 17 and 20 years old.

“There was a knuckle duster used during the attack, which is bad enough but I am just so grateful that they weren’t carrying knives because the outcome could have been so much worse,” she added.

“Jack is such a polite young lad who would do anything for anyone. He did nothing to deserve this and I just hope the police find who was involved.”

Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.