Second child assaulted in Kildare park

A second child has been assaulted and verbally abused in the same playground in Kildare town in the days immediately after the boy who had his arm broken last week.

This time it was a pre-teen girl who was first racially abused by a gang of boys and girls on the Saturday (9 May), then pulled off her bike by the hair a day later before being punched and kicked on the ground.

Again, someone – whether as part of the assault group, or a bystander – filmed the shocking assault, which has made its way to the victim’s mother, and subsequently, the gardaí who have this footage along with the name of the alleged assailant.

In the short video seen by the Kildare Nationalist, the victim is astride her bike on a pathway with her younger brother and one other, also on bikes, when her assailant runs up from behind her, yanks her hair violently to the ground, before punching her up to six times and kicking her twice on the ground.

“My daughter (12) and three friends were walking through the same playground between 5-5.30pm on the Saturday when a gang of boys and girls - but mainly one girl – started verbally abusing her.

“It was racial, things like ‘Paki go home’, but I don’t want to make this a racial thing, because there are other local kids getting hurt there also,” she said most magnanimously.

“It’s only 900m metres to her home from the playground and she usually takes her bike, so she could be home in five or 10 minutes.

“She didn’t tell us [about the verbal abuse] straight away, not on the same day, she told us the next day after she was assaulted.

“There was a gang of six or seven, but only one girl assaulted my daughter, and one girl recorded the assault.

“The assailant was not known to my daughter, they go to separate schools.

“We do not know what the trigger for this assault was, because she was not known.

“They first met the previous day at the verbal abuse on Saturday.

“On Sunday the (assailant) girl said she wanted to talk to her. My daughter said no and went to cycle home, when the assailant pulled her by the hair off the bicycle, knocked her on the ground before hitting and kicking her.

“My daughter had multiple bruises on her legs and stomach, so I took her to the GP.

“The doctor said to take her to the emergency room if the pain persists.

“Fortunately it subsided, but the bruises – internal and external – remain.

“It has been extremely traumatic for her, she felt humiliated that out of nowhere someone pulls her hair and starts kicking her.

“She has gone back to school this week (three days after the assault), and the school has been very supportive, and has promised her counselling.

“There has been a lot of good people around who have shown me support – and the video, and the name of the girl.

“I have been surrounded by good people, kind people.

“They really rallied around after I put the details up on a local page.

“This is now frequently happening where children are playing and getting hurt, and nobody seems to be taking action against them.

“On the same day as the assault I made a report to the gardaí, and have also spoken to councillor Suzanne (Doyle).

“She put me in touch with the community garda, and so now the name of the (alleged) assailant is with the guards now.

“Myself and my husband are a united front on this, but a mother’s instinct when I saw the state my daughter was in ... my heart was broken.

“The gardaí told me the CCTV in the vicinity is not working, so if it wasn’t filmed I would not know who did this to my kid.

“This needs to be fixed if kids are getting hurt.

“When I heard her brother sobbing, he was there but couldn’t help it all happened so fast, but he wanted to do something.

“I want some action done, because I don’t want any other kid getting hurt,” said the mother.

“I feel so sickened by this,” said local Fianna Fáil councillor Suzanne Doyle.

“The nature of what happened here should give us all pause … it is very disturbing.

“We as local representatives are very aware there is a very big gap in the availability of activities for young people, so we’ve been working with the school principals to have a series of mini summer camps through The Hive (the local youth hub).

“But I feel we really must send our children to school, and don’t worry if they’re not Einstein’s - I wasn’t one – but there are more important things than As and Bs coming out of schools.

“It takes a village they say, and though we’re (Kildare town) not one any more, it still takes the same ethos.” 

An Garda Síochána has also been contacted for comment, but have not replied at the time of going to print.