'Bullied' girl ponders legal move
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6047750.stm Version 0 of 1. A schoolgirl who claims to have suffered two years of anti-English bullying is preparing to take legal action against her local council. Sophie Parks, 17, claims that she suffered cuts, bruises and racist abuse at the hands of fellow pupils at the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, Lewis. She may take action against Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) for failing to protect her. The authority declined to comment on the case because of possible action. Sophie has since left the island to attend sixth form college in Sheffield. She said she suffered verbal abuse from other girls because she was English. I had to put up with kicking, shouting, screaming - and when they got me on my own they would beat me up Sophie Parks She said: "It started as physical then it became more verbal and lots of other people got involved. "I had to put up with kicking, shouting, screaming - and when they got me on my own they would beat me up." Sophie claimed she was targeted because she was not from the Western Isles. She said of those who bullied her: "They didn't really tolerate anyone not from the islands." Her mother Sally Parks said after more than 18 months of bullying her daughter was effectively driven away and accused the education authority of "stalling" on her requests for her to be moved to a school in Harris. 'No guarantees' She said: "They didn't like me saying there was bullying in that school. It wasn't really taken seriously." A Comhairle spokesman said that in the light of the possible pending legal action the authority could not comment on this particular case. He said it sought to provide a safe environment for all pupils in its schools, but that there could not be any guarantees. The spokesman added it was an issue faced by all schools in the UK and he urged children to speak to their parents and teachers and use the various helplines if they had a particular issue. |