The family of a boy battered by a yob who clubbed him in the face with
the youngster's own crutches say they are 'appalled' after the thug was let off
with just a warning.
Angus Whittall received severe facial injuries after the unprovoked
attack last July (SWNS)
Angus Whitall was punched to the floor in a 'completely unprovoked'
attack by a known troublemaker in Great Oxendon, Northants, in July.
The brazen
lout then used Angus's crutches - which he was on after a knee operation - to
beat him around the head, leaving the teen bleeding on the ground and later
needing stitches.
When police arrested the youth and charged him with actual
bodily harm, Angus and his family thought justice would be done and the thug
prosecuted.
But weeks before he was due to appear in court the Crown
Prosecution Service refused to prosecute him claiming it was "not in the
public interest."
The CPS instead said they took on the views of the
'victim and his family', and decided to give the attacker a 'final warning'
Angus's
parents slammed the decision, saying they had "lost faith in the justice
system."
Angus's disgusted mother Cathy, 46, said: "We were all so
disappointed. "When my son heard that the yob had escaped with a slap on
the wrists he just started shaking his head.
"Now that his attacker has
got away with it, he could easily do it again to someone else.
"It was a
completely unprovoked attack and there is nothing to stop him doing it again if
he knows he will get away with it."
Dad Peter, 47, a company director,
added: "We have lost faith in the justice system and the CPS more
specifically.
"I don't know how somebody known to police can cause such
nasty injuries and escape punishment.
"We are appalled that this has been
allowed to happen.
"After being punched to the ground the kid - who is
well known to police - started battering him around the head with Angus' own
crutches.
"If that isn't cause for legal action - what is?
"We were
told it wasn't in the public interest to haul him before the courts. It's
baffling."
Angus, who needed crutches following a knee operation, was
attacked by the youth as he walked along a country lane near his home in Great
Oxendon, Northants., on July 29.
Disgusted: The family of Angus, pictured yesterday, say they are
'appalled' by the decision not to prosecute his …
The thug punched Angus to the ground before beating him around the head
with his crutches and leaving him bleeding on the ground. Angus was rushed to
hospital with severe facial injuries where he required 12 stitches for a gash
in his mouth. Despite identifying the attacker, it took police a month to
arrest the thug and charge him with actual bodily harm. Police arrested the
perpetrator from Rothwell, Northants, at the end of August and had been due to
face an assault charge in youth court at Kettering Magistrates on September 7.
However, when the CPS ruled they would not be seeking a prosecution and
referred the case back to the police, the teenager received a slap on the
wrist. A spokesman for CPS East Midlands said yesterday: "A senior crown
prosecutor has reviewed all the facts in this case, including the aggravating
and mitigating factors. "The circumstances behind this assault fit the
national criteria for a final warning, which has now been formally administered
by a police officer. "Reprimands and warnings are often used as a method
of addressing the behaviour of young people with the intervention of the local
youth offending team. "The views of the victim and his family have been
taken into account in reaching this decision."
A Northamptonshire Police spokesman added: "Following advice from
the Crown Prosecution Service, it was determined that he receive a final
warning, rather than appear before the court."
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