Schoolboys knifed, burned, hit with brick and left for dead

By Claire Lewis and Lucy Ashton
TWO boys aged 10 and 11 were being questioned by police today after a child was left for dead at the bottom of a ravine and another knifed in a horror attack in South Yorkshire.
The victims, aged nine and 11, were allegedly hit with a brick, slashed with a knife and burned with cigarettes, according to shocked residents in Edlington, near Doncaster.

They are also said to have had mobile phones, trainers and around £3 in cash stolen.

Police were called to the Brick Ponds area of Edlington at around 2.20pm on Saturday after the nine-year-old was found covered in blood on Auburn Street.

He was barefoot, soaking wet, covered in dirt and told residents he had been attacked.

Resident Lisa Meehan said: "I felt sick to my stomach. You couldn't see his face.

"He was cut from head to toe with a gash across his head.

"He told my daughter he'd been beaten up and that he couldn't find his friend."

While the "dazed" youngster was being rushed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary, where he had surgery and is expected to be operated on again today, police officers called to the area found his 11-year-old friend semi-unconscious at the bottom of a ravine.

He had serious head injuries and was airlifted to Sheffield Children's Hospital, where police today said he was critical but stable in intensive care. He is said to be showing some signs of improvement.

Two boys arrested in connection with the incident were found by police officers on nearby allotments.

Jean Wright, 68, whose husband Derek, 70, spotted the nine-year-old victim wandering down their street, said: "My husband saw him walking past the outside of our house and he was covered in what my husband thought was red paint. When he went out he saw it was blood.

"We brought him in and my husband calmed him down. He had a big gash on his arm and he was covered in blood on his head. He was shaking very badly and going into shock. We managed to get his name out of him and my husband told me to call an ambulance."

The youngster told them he and the other victim had been riding bikes when they were beaten up.

Detectives spent yesterday making house-to-house enquiries to try to establish whether anyone had witnessed the attack.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Two boys are in police custody after an alleged assault which left one boy with life-threatening injuries and another boy with serious injuries in the Edlington area on Saturday afternoon.

"Further enquiries led the police to the bottom of a steep slope where an 11-year-old boy was found partially conscious with life-threatening injuries to his head. He was airlifted to the Sheffield Children's Hospital and placed in intensive care.

"There is a visible police presence in the area with officers still conducting house to house enquiries."

yes not good as local as edlington ive got a cousin there

What on earth possess these boys to go attacking others for just mere pennies? My thoughts are with the victims.

Goodness, what on Earth possessed them to do that? Poor boys. My thoughts and prayers are with the children's families. They all have to deal with this.