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British schoolboy found guilty of racial harassment of schoolgirl

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

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A 15-year-old schoolboy was found guilty in Lincoln Youth Court in England yesterday of racial harrassment of a 14-year-old schoolgirl. The case is regarded as a landmark case, the first such case of its kind.

Raymond Wildsmith, prosecuting, described the events. The boy had for a period of several months taunted the girl with racial epithets including "wog, coon, nigger, gorilla, and golliwog". He had told her to "Go back to your own country. You don’t belong here.", and chanted "White, white, white is right, kick them out, fight, fight, fight."

Unidentified sources told the Daily Mail that the boy had supported the British National Party, and had attempted to enlist other youths as supporters as well.

The girl, who was of mixed English and African heritage, had already changed schools once to avoid racial abuse. She initially did not report the abuse at the new school, for fear that the boy would turn violent. The girl's parents first learned of it when she attempted to commit suicide, in January, by taking a combination of stress pills and painkillers. Her suicide note requested that people not wear black at her funeral. She ended up in hospital, and then "sectioned" (involuntarily committed under the provisions of § 4 the Mental Health Act) to a psychiatric institution for several weeks. She will now change schools again.

The boy was found guilty after a six-hour trial. He is scheduled for sentencing on August the 13th. Another 15-year-old boy charged with the same offence was found not guilty.

Under § 45 and Schedule 2 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 and § 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, it is illegal in England and Wales for news reports to identify either of the children involved in the case.

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  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
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