Boy's arm broken by club 'bullies'

Tristan Lambert suffered a double fracture which needed a pin inserting to hold together his lower arm.

The boy's father claims his son was bullied by a group of teenagers.

Nigel Hedley, 42, says Tristan was hauled by the legs from a window ledge he was sitting on by four older boys and a girl.

The injuries were sustained at a Friday night session at St Bede's Youth Club, which meets in a hall to the rear of the school on Preston Road, Clayton Green.

Mr Hedley, of Carr Meadow, says he hopes the incident is not treated as merely high jinks or horseplay.

He said: "What does it take for something to be classed as bullying now? After talking to Tristan I'm convinced this was a premeditated attack.

"The kids involved waited until the adult supervising them left the room and then immediately attacked him. He now faces time off school and I just hope he regains full use of the arm.

"I hope the matter is treated with the seriousness it deserves from both the youth club and the police."

Mr Hedley has now withdrawn Tristan from the club, which he had only attended for a couple of weeks before the incident.

Tristan, who lives with his mother Jayne and brother Jonathan, 15, in Woodfield, Clayton Brook, is a keen skateboarder and motor racing fan.

He said: "They pulled me down roughly and I landed on my arm. Someone kicked me as I landed as well. I was pretty scared at the time and don't know why they would want to do that to me."

A spokesman for the youth club confirmed the incident had taken place there and said that they had reported the matter to the police soon afterwards.

They added that bullying is taken very seriously by all at the club and that it was not tolerated in any circumstances.

Rules formulated in conjunction with the children attending the club addressed the issue of bullying and stated that it was forbidden.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police confirmed the incident was still under investigation.