PREVIEW

WORDS BYLINE: Alex Keir
A mother has told how she “cried” after watching a Snapchat video of her 13-year-old son being punched and kicked in an ambush attack.
Layla Sullivan, from Appledore near Ashford, says her son Kian Croxford was lured to Rye railway station car park before being confronted by a group of youths and assaulted by an older boy.
The distressing footage - shared in a Snapchat group called Gang s**t - shows the teen being repeatedly hit despite his pleas for the attacker to stop. No one present stepped in.
Ms Sullivan told KentOnline: “My heart was in my stomach seeing the terrified look on my defenceless son's face as the boy kept attacking repeatedly.
“I just cried. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the fear my son felt in that moment while he was begging them to stop.”
Kian suffered a bruised jaw, and although police interviewed the other boy involved, the case was later dealt with out of court by way of a community resolution.
Ms Sullivan says her “kind-hearted” son - who remains riddled with anxiety - has been denied the justice he deserved.
“It’s absolutely disgusting. I wasn’t happy with it at all,” she told KentOnline.
“I wasn’t expecting him to go to prison or anything like that but he needs more than a slap on the wrist.
“I honestly expected consequences severe enough for this young man to understand that actions do have consequences.
“People wonder why we live in a lawless society and this is why - because nobody has consequences to pay any more.”
Kian had only been at his new school, Rye College, for two months when he was attacked on June 24.
Ms Sullivan says her son received a message early that morning from a friend asking to meet and “chill” before school. When he arrived at the station car park, several other teens were waiting, including the boy who would go on to attack him.
“They then started giving it to my son because he had an argument with a kid at school over a sports game,” Ms Sullivan said.
“My son thought he had sorted it all out with this lad, but obviously not.”
Ms Sullivan says Kian was not being confrontational and was unable to defend himself.
“My son’s a very anxious child,” she said.
“He is the most kind-hearted kid and hasn’t got a violent bone in his body.
“They took advantage of that.”
After the attack, Kian returned home with a bruised jaw.
The video was then shared in the Snapchat group, with a message saying: “Watch that and tell me I can’t fight g.”
Another said: “Kian, if I hear u say one more thing trust me ur have more than 2 bangs.”
Earlier messages include “bruv I will f*** him up bad” and “on my mums life you will get smoked”.
British Transport Police (BTP) investigated the incident, with the case eventually passed to its youth offending team.
It was eventually resolved through a “community resolution” when an East Sussex Youth Justice Service Out of Court Resolution panel met on October 23. Ms Sullivan appealed an initial decision but the outcome remained the same.
A spokesperson for the BTP said: “Officers received a report of an assault at Rye railway station which left a teenage boy with superficial injuries.
“A 14-year-old boy was interviewed by officers as part of their enquiries. Following an investigation and a referral to the Youth Offending Team, the matter was dealt with out of court with a community resolution.”
East Sussex County Council said it was unable to discuss individual cases.
A spokesperson said: “In line with our Child First principles, we always seek not to unnecessarily criminalise children. East Sussex Out of Court Resolution panels provide a robust, multi-agency decision-making process which includes screening to ensure the suitability of the child being referred and the assessment of risks and vulnerability.”
Five months on, Kian still feels anxious going out with his friends.
“He went out this Halloween and ended up coming home an hour later because he was so paranoid,” Ms Sullivan said.
Rye College told KentOnline they were unable to comment on the matter due to the attack taking place outside of school grounds.
Studies have shown that seven in 10 teens have seen real-life violent content online in the past year, while almost a third of Snapchat users say they have been exposed to it on the platform.
A Snap Inc spokesperson previously said “there is no place” for such content on Snapchat.
They added: “If we find content like this, we remove it immediately and take appropriate action.
“We regularly review our features to help make Snapchat a safe, positive experience, and continue to work closely with charity partners, safety experts, NGOs and police to tackle it.”