Sharples School pupil Leanne Smith with her mother, Karen Royle

THE MOTHER of a deaf teenager has withdrawn her daughter from a Bolton secondary school -- claiming she has been victimised by bullies.

She claims that her 13-year-old daughter Leanne Smith has been kicked and punched on an almost daily basis by older students at Sharples School.

Now her mother, Karen Royle, is threatening to teach her daughter at home or possibly even send her to an alternative unit for deaf children -- NINETY miles away.

Fighting back tears, Miss Royle has told education chiefs that she will not allow Leanne, one of only five pupils in a special unit for deaf children, to return to the Hill Cot Road school.

But she has been informed that the only two schools available to her are in Stockport -- and Derby.

The anxious mother, who is now writing for help to Bury MP Ivan Lewis, said she realised her daughter was having problems early last year when Leanne repeatedly complained of having a stomach ache, a condition which always disappeared when her mother gave her the day off.

After much probing, Leanne admitted she had become a victim of bullying for 18 months.

Mrs Royle, aged 37, of Wilton Gardens, Radcliffe, said: "Leanne was being intimidated by the hearing boys.

"I had a pale and withdrawn little girl coming home to me every day. She once came to me in tears with a large bruise at the top of her leg. I told the school and they said they would look into it but nothing was done."

Leanne became profoundly deaf after being struck with meningitis at the age of three.

Her mother said she is keen to send Leanne to a comprehensive school to mix with children who did not have hearing difficulties.

Mrs Royle is alarmed at the prospect of allowing her daughter to attend the special needs school in Stockport or the boarding school in Derby.

She said: "I don't want Leanne to go away for five days a week and if she has to leave Bolton she may believe she is a victim in all of this.

"One thing is certain, Leanne does not want to go back to Sharples and if it comes to it I will teach her myself at home."

During the months of torment Leanne was herself placed on report for bullying and swearing. Mrs Royle maintains the alleged victimisation of her daughter was to blame for the teenager's more aggressive behaviour.

No-one at the school or the education departments in Bolton and Bury was available for comment.

A spokesman for Bolton's Bully Free Zone, a group set up to help children and their parents overcome their concerns, said bullying was a real problem in schools but withdrawing a child should only be done in the most extreme circumstances.

She added: "Taking a child out of school can lead to legal problems and in some cases a prosecution but it is something that many people do not do lightly.

"Mrs Royle is very welcome to come to us to talk over her concerns."