A schoolboy was so badly beaten up during his lunch break on Tuesday he is now in hospital under hourly review and all because of his colour.
The black 15 year old was brutally punched around the head by a white man about five years his senior in what police are treating as an unprovoked, racially motivated attack.
A large scale police investigation has been launched in a bid to track down the racist thug and a wide-reaching appeal has been made for any information about the attack, which happened between 2.05pm and 2.30pm.
The teenager had been walking along Aultone Way near Sutton Common Station with a white friend of the same age. The two were returning to school after their lunch break, when a gold coloured car passed them. Shouts of you girls came from inside the car, before it was driven around a roundabout and pulled up alongside them.
A large-nosed, athletic, white man, with a shaved head, jumped out of the front passenger seat leaving the driver and another passenger, understood to be a man and a woman, waiting in the car.
He demanded the boys come towards him. Then, ignoring the white boy, he chased after his black friend before beating him to the ground. The unharmed white boy ran to call for help.
The victim, who was taken to St Helier Hospital, was slipping in and out of consciousness as they waited for the ambulance.
In the latest available condition check before going to press, doctors said he was comfortable but was being checked on every hour because of his head injuries.
Detective Constable Alison Hepworth, who is heading up the investigation, was unavailable for comment on Thursday, but was at the scene making enquiries and collecting CCTV tape. She has also issued an appeal for information via ringmaster, the polices messaging system to residents and businesses.
Chief Inspector David Chinchen told the Comet it was a very serious assault and said the boy and his friend were clearly very distressed by the attack.
Anyone with information can call DC Hepworth on 020 8649 0759, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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