Mum of bullied son who was 'failed miserably' calls on South Yorkshire Police to do more to protect him

Emma Martin, from Carlton in Lindrick, near Worksop has urged officers at South Yorkshire Police to more to protect her son from horrific bullying he has experienced at Dinnington High School in Rotherham.

It’s after her son Matthew Dickinson was left hospitalised when he was attacked in school on March 9 with a pencil that was jammed into his leg.

The 12-year-old had to undergo a medical procedure to remove the weapon which left him with a purple scar on his thigh, after x-rays revealed the lead was still inside him.

While Matthew lives in Nottinghamshire, the investigation was passed onto South Yorkshire Police because the attack, which was caught on CCTV, took place at his school in Rotherham.

Emma is concerned that this footage which documented Matthew being pushed to the ground and struck with a pencil has now been deleted.

Dinnington High School claim that the CCTV recording was not ‘deliberately deleted’ and instead the footage overwritten.

His mum now vows to get him ‘the justice he deserves’ after he has been ‘terrorised’ by another child who has physically attacked Matthew three times in the the last five years.

Emma explained how she now fears for Matthew’s mental well-being.

“While we were in hospital Matthew told me that he didn't want to live anymore because this boy has terrorised him, he's physically attacking him, it's escalating and it's getting worse”, she said.

"The time before he was attacked, Matthew wrote a statement and I took it into school and it said 'please help me'.

“The hospital staff told me I really need to dig my heels in because my son is clearly not being protected, they were disgusted.”

While the Year 7 pupil was initially given leaflets on suicide after the attack, Ms Martin was shocked to discover that police had not informed her that the case had been sent for an out of court disposal.

Dinnington High School Principal Rebecca Staples commented: “As a school, we do not tolerate bullying but like all schools we cannot stop it occurring occasionally.

“When it occurs, we deal with it robustly and work hard with the victim and the bully.

“According to the incident and circumstances, this can include sanctions; it also always includes a determined effort to understand and address the reasons to prevent recurrence.

“Ms Elsdon, our Vice Principal, who leads on Student Development, is working closely with Matthew’s mum and putting a range of support in place for him to help him regain his confidence.

“It [the CCTV] was on a cycle that meant it was written over after a set period of time.

“Usually, we can copy relevant parts of recordings to inform our own judgements.

“Very unfortunately, we lost the recording in the disruption of the start of lockdown; and have apologised to Ms Martin.”

In a statement South Yorkshire Police said: “We are aware of this matter and are in conversations with the complainant.”