Mum says daughter suffered ‘for 18 months’ after sick bully attack video went viral
Melanie Lunt's 14-year-old daughter Terri-Mae was beaten up in front of a gang of around 100.
A MUM has revealed her daughter suffered for 18 months after a video of her being attacked went viral.
Melanie Lunt, 42, says daughter Terri-Mae "suffered because of somebody else's actions" when she was forced to move schools following the vile attack.
The mum-of-three is now backing The Sun's Block The Bullying campaign, in conjunction with the NSPCC and has called for "more justice" for victims.
Block The Bullying aims to educate young people about why filming and sharing attacks on social media can be just as damaging to a child as the actual physical assault.
We are also telling teens what to do if they see a bullying video on social media, how parents should react if their child is a victim and we are asking readers to .
Finally we are calling on social media channels to take down any videos showing the bullying of children as soon as they become aware of them.
Melanie recalled arriving to pick Terri-Mae up from school to find her being attacked outside the gates, with a crowd of "100 people" standing around watching and filming.
She said "It makes me sick, I can't understand why you would want to film that - I thought it was really, really sick.
"There were around 100 people stood there watching - it only stopped when a man heard Terri-Mae's head being smashed against his iron gates and came out to break it up."
Melanie says despite multiple videos of the attack, nobody was "brought to justice" as there "was not enough evidence".
The aims of the campaign are simple:
Firstly: We call on all social media platforms to remove videos of children being physically bullied by other young people as soon as they come to their attention.
Secondly: We are asking for Sun readers - both children and adults - to pledge their support to report the videos if they see them.
Thirdly: We aim to educate children as to why they should never film and share incidents of bullying and the damage it can cause the victims and to themselves.
Fourthly: We want to offer parents an easy step by step guide to help them cope if their children have been victims of cyber bullying.
Police offered restorative justice for the two girls - which involves them settling the dispute with one another, with no lawyers or professionals present.
"Terri-Mae said she was happy to do it, which I thought was really brave for a 14-year-old girl who had been battered to a pulp," Melanie explains.
But when the family arrived for the session, Melanie says the attacker was already there with her parents and a solicitor.
Furious Melanie said: "We were told we weren't allowed a solicitor, because this is supposed to be a softie resolution.
"My husband said he wouldn't let a solicitor in intimidating Terri-Mae, and they wouldn't do it without one so we had to leave it.
"We weren't happy at all."
Melanie and her husband Terry, 40, tried to press charges against the girl but police said they were unable to establish how the attack started.
The fuming mum said: "I would never condone it but I can see why people feel forced to take the law into their own hands, because there's no justice.
"As far as I'm concerned that child will do it again and again.
"Because she can, because there's no punishment."
Terri-Mae stayed off school for three days after the attack to recover from her injuries.
The 14-year-old suffered injuries to her shoulder and collarbone as well as bad bruising, bites and nail marks.
When Terri-Mae returned days later, Melanie says she was assured the girl had been suspended and would not be at school.
She said: "I was reassured the girl was not on the premises and my daughter was safe - but Terri-Mae called me less than an hour later in hysterics saying the girl was there."
Furious Melanie added: "The school let us down, everybody let us down.
"We had no support whatsoever.
"It took Terri-Mae four weeks to even go to the shop at the end of her road - she was so frightened."
How to tackle bullying videos on social media
Brutal videos of children beating up other children are becoming more common by the day. But what should you do if you see one pop up on your social media feed? And worse still, what should you do if you discover that your child is a victim of this kind of bullying, or even that they are taking part themselves? It is an incredibly tough position for any parent to be in, so click here for the NSPCC's step by step guide of what to do.
Terry and Melanie refused to let Terri-Mae back to the school and home-schooled her for five weeks before she was accepted at another secondary nearby.
Melanie said: "She's a bright child and she suffered because of this, while there's been no justice for the attacker."
Terri-Mae has now settled into a new school and is moving on from last year's trauma.
Melanie added: "It's really important we sort the laws out around bullying.
"Somebody needs to stand up and speak about it seriously."
The Sun Online has pledged not to publish any more videos of children being bullied, unless we have express permission from the family or police.
If you or anyone you know have experienced this kind of bullying email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368