Shameless ‘bully’ who ‘waterboarded’ Syrian classmate blames the VICTIM and says he’s not racist
The accused teen claims he and the victim had 'been on good terms' prior to the attack
A SHAMELESS teen who "waterboarded" a Syrian refugee in a shocking video today blamed the VICTIM and insisted he's not racist.
The 16-year-old denied to The Sun Online he had been bullying the classmate and claimed the pair had been "on good terms".
Shocking footage shows the victim with his arm in a cast being dragged to the floor by his neck as his attacker says "I'll drown you" on a school playing field.
The teen then pours a bottle of water in his face while others watch and cheer.
In a handwritten statement to The Sun Online, the youth denied he was a racist - just hours after he was charged with common assault by cops.
He said: "I fully accept responsibility for my actions which I regret but wish to make it clear I was not responsible for breaking his arm, nor had I been bullying him over a period of time as has been reported."
He continued: "The incident was isolated and came about from an altercation between us earlier that day. The incident was not racial as up to that time we had been on good terms.
"I have now been charged with common assault, not racially-aggravated as has been reported."
Earlier today we revealed the alleged attacker and his family have been forced to flee their Huddersfield home after being targeted by a gang of vigilantes.
Cops admitted they had been forced to put "safeguarding measures" in place to protect the family after groups of men were seen driving up and down the family's street.
The teen has been inundated with death threats on social media - which shows his support for far right group Britain First,- after the disturbing footage was shared thousands of times online.
In one Facebook post a man threatens to stab him, saying: "I'll be there tomorrow with a knife, ready to stab the c***."
Another says "You should've been bombed in Manchester", referring to last year's terror attack.
Neighbours said the family - a mum, a son and two young girls - had been forced to flee in the middle of the night and reported hearing swearing, shouting and threats being directed towards the teen's house.
The neighbour told The Sun Online: “The boy’s family were moved out last night for their own protection.
“People were pulling up in their cars in the early hours and shouting threats and all kinds of abuse. It was disgusting.”
There was no answer at the property today and the curtains remained drawn. A police car was also parked outside.
West Yorkshire Police refused to confirm whether the family had been taken to a safehouse - but confirmed the boy had been questioned by officers.
A spokesman said: "A 16-year-old youth has been interviewed and reported for summons, for an offence of assault. He will appear at Youth Court in due course."
This morning it emerged that the boy's sister had also fallen victim to abuse at a school in Huddersfield.
A statement on behalf of the family told how both siblings had been targeted and the lad had suffered a broken arm after being attacked by pupils.
It said: "Last month he was set upon and assaulted so severely by four of the students in the school that his arm was fractured.
“Having had his arm placed in a cast, he returned to school, only within days to be set upon again by the same group of boys who this time strangled and waterboarded him whilst video recording the incident and sharing the same to add to and publicise his humiliation."
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The family statement added: "His sister had been subjected to constant racial abuse by her own peer group since joining the school."
The spokesperson then claimed that the bullying had become so severe that the boy's sister locked herself in a school toilet "broke her spectacles" and "cut her own wrist in an attempt at suicide".
The statement also revealed how the boy's family settled in the UK after his relatives were tortured and murdered by the Assad regime.
They first fled to Lebanon and were later given safe passage to Britain by the United Nations.
A page has since been set up for the lad's family with over £80,000 raised after footage of the attack went viral last night.
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