A gang of children who allegedly tried to strangle a five-year-old boy were being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder last night.
Two girls and three boys, aged 11 and 12, tied a rope around Anthony Brown's neck. He claimed that they then tried to tie him up to a tree.
He suffered rope burns and bruising to the neck in a wood known as Devil's Ditch near his home in Dewsbury, West Yorks. Anthony had been playing in his garden in the Chickenley area of the town on Tuesday afternoon while his mother Terri, 30, was in the kitchen. He failed to answer when she called him in for his tea and, despite a search around the streets, she could not find him.
A 12-year-old girl who had been playing on a swing in the garden with him is believed to have taken him half a mile to Earlsheaton Park. There the gang of boys and girls allegedly put the rope around his neck and tried to tie him to a tree before running off.
Two hours later his cousin, Tracey Jones, 22, found him wandering 200 yards from his home.
Miss Jones, who had been helping Miss Brown, a single mother, and friends look for him, said: "When he saw me he burst into tears. He was shaken and dazed.
"When I asked what had happened, he said, 'Some boys and girls tied a rope around my neck and tried to tie me to a tree.
"I asked, 'Why did you go with them?' and he said, 'They wouldn't let me go.' "
Anthony, who is on half-term holiday from Chickenley primary school, had scratches on his arms and a bright red rope mark and bruises around his neck.
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Two girls and three boys, aged 11 and 12, tied a rope around Anthony Brown's neck. He claimed that they then tried to tie him up to a tree.
He suffered rope burns and bruising to the neck in a wood known as Devil's Ditch near his home in Dewsbury, West Yorks. Anthony had been playing in his garden in the Chickenley area of the town on Tuesday afternoon while his mother Terri, 30, was in the kitchen. He failed to answer when she called him in for his tea and, despite a search around the streets, she could not find him.
A 12-year-old girl who had been playing on a swing in the garden with him is believed to have taken him half a mile to Earlsheaton Park. There the gang of boys and girls allegedly put the rope around his neck and tried to tie him to a tree before running off.
Two hours later his cousin, Tracey Jones, 22, found him wandering 200 yards from his home.
Miss Jones, who had been helping Miss Brown, a single mother, and friends look for him, said: "When he saw me he burst into tears. He was shaken and dazed.
"When I asked what had happened, he said, 'Some boys and girls tied a rope around my neck and tried to tie me to a tree.
"I asked, 'Why did you go with them?' and he said, 'They wouldn't let me go.' "
Anthony, who is on half-term holiday from Chickenley primary school, had scratches on his arms and a bright red rope mark and bruises around his neck.
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