Shocking video shows 12-year-old boy being viciously beaten up by other kids ‘because of his red hair’
The actress is currently mourning the death of her husband
A YOUNG teen bullied for "being ginger" was beaten up by a mob and smacked with his own scooter while several youngsters filmed the gutless attack.
Unsettling mobile phone footage shows Toby Gates, 12, repeatedly being kicked as he writhes in agony on the ground.
Toby's fuming dad, Simon McManus, shared a Snapchat video allegedly taken by a child who watched the attack in Yeovil, Somerset, on Saturday.
It shows Toby, whose mum died less than a year ago, being wrestled to the ground by another boy before being punched, kicked, and stamped on.
He was even hit with the scooter the gang had snatched from him just moments before.
After the beating one of the boys took a close-up picture of Toby's face as he was lying on the grass in distress.
Simon, 51, said: "I was devastated when he told me what happened. I was fuming. I wanted to sort it out there and then and find the kids who did it.
"Obviously that's not the answer and would have made me no better than the people who did this.
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"Toby's not one to drop anyone in it but I told him: 'You can't let these people get away with this'.
"Initially when he came in he went straight up to his room and his sister came and told me he was crying quite heavily.
"He said he was alright and that he had just fallen over.
"There was nothing too visible injury-wise so I left it at that but then some of his sister's friends from over the road came and said what they had seen on Snapchat.
";Toby then gave me his version of events. He said they had stolen his scooter and when he tried to get it back this is what happened."
Simon, who also has a 13-year-old daughter, Sophie Gates, said the bullying was even more difficult to cope with as Toby's mum and step-mum had both died in the past 10 months.
The children's mum, Sadie Gates, passed away in December 2015 aged 46, while Simon's partner Anne-Marie died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage in April, aged 49.
Toby suffered some minor cuts and bruises to his back and the incident has been reported to Avon and Somerset Police.
Simon said: "The people who pick on Toby have no idea what he's been through.
"They should walk in his shoes and think about what they're doing.
"He loved both his mum and his step-mum dearly and it's hit him really hard losing them both in such a short space of time.
"He's only a 12-year-old boy and he's struggling with the loss. He seems to have poured everything into his schoolwork.
"He's suffering more than any 12-year-old should have to. You hear about these happy-slapping things but you never think it'll happen to your own.
"Toby's not a violent person. He a popular lad and wouldn't hurt a fly. Boys will always fight but for it to be filmed and passed around is humiliating.
"He's been bullied for being ginger going right back to when he started school. The latest thing they've started saying is that they'll try to light a cigarette on his head because his hair's on fire.
"He says it doesn't affect him now but when you hear the same abuse every day it's going to grind a bit."
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