Mum of girl attacked in Chesterfield town centre by teenage gang says police should tackle bullying

Officers responded to an allegation of assault outside the bus station in New Beetwell Street in Chesterfield at 4pm on Monday, April 3.

Witnesses reported two 14-year-old girls being attacked by a group of teenagers. Both girls were kicked and hit before escaping.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Police confirmed one of the victims said the attack involved a large group of young people.

Kristal Richardson, 44, mum of one of the girls, said: “My daughter Lillee and her friend were walking along when this group of girls just jumped off at them.

"They started shouting at them and then four or five of them started hitting Lillee’s friend and pulling her hair. My daughter sort of climbed over the fence and grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her away from them to save her.

"They escaped and waited in a coffee shop for me to pick them up. They are both okay but shaken up.”

She added: "It’s the second time Lillee was attacked in town this year, I definitely don't feel comfortable with her going out and hanging out with friends away from home. She's autistic and she doesn’t feel safe going out now.

"She’s really quiet because of the autism and she's won’t argue back or start any trouble. But when she is attacked it makes it even worse, in a way she can’t really stick up for herself.

"When she was first assaulted in February, I had witnesses, I knew the names of the girls who attacked her, and also had the CCTV. On that occasion, I reported to police but police haven't really done much, they didn’t even speak to the kids involved as far as I am aware.

"When I last spoke to them a couple of weeks ago, they hadn't even interviewed witnesses, or the girls that beat up my daughter. They said they were busy and had a lot of work to do and that’s several weeks after my daughter was attacked. Police definitely could have done more.

"And yesterday so many bystanders saw the incident. They could have easily called the police and no one did. They were just standing around filming it. No one did anything to help.

"As parents, there's nothing that we can do to get any justice for our kids. When this happens, there's nothing that we can do. We go to the police, we go down the correct route and it just seems to fall on deaf ears.

"I do understand that these teenagers have got their whole lives ahead of them so they don't want to have a record or anything like that but in my case it seems like police did not even talk to the kids that have done this.

“I think that looking at what is happening recently police really need to tackle bullying. Kids seem to think that they can’t be touched by anyone, even the law.”

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Police said: “We were called to reports that a teenage girl had been assaulted by a group of girls in Langer Lane Park, Birdholme, Chesterfield, between 4.15pm and 4.45pm on Tuesday 21 February.

“Officers are continuing with their investigation into the incident and are following a number of lines of enquiry. Officers will continue to update the victim and her mother throughout the process.”

Officers have now launched an investigation into the incident that happened this week and are appealing for anyone who witnessed what happened or has information which could help with their enquiries to get in touch, quoting reference number 23*201363, on any of the methods below:

Facebook– send a private message to Derbyshire Police Facebook page

Twitter– direct message contact centre via @DerPolContact

Website– use reporting tools on Derbyshire Police website or use online contact form

Phone – call 101

You can also anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website.