Mum’s horror after baby attacked in pram

Janet Da Silva’s son, Gabriel Jones, suffered facial injuries after the daylight attack by a 17-year-old pupil from Fullerton House School.

Janet (30) said Gabriel was asleep in a pram when she and her mother, Debbie Rojas Marinero, got off the bus in Tickhill Street, Denaby Main.

Janet said three men were walking towards her, with one man further in front, but as the nearest man was about to pass her he launched himself into the pram and attacked Gabriel.

“I screamed: ‘What the hell are you doing?’, then he stood up, looked at me in my face and laughed,” she said.

“Gabriel was screaming and I saw all the blood on his face and I started screaming.

“The two other males then grabbed the guy on either arm and stood him up against a wall.

“Neither of them said anything to me.

“I didn’t know who they were or where they were from.

“It happened so fast, I didn’t have any time to stop him.”

The mother-of-two said the attacker “shoved both hands in and clawed Gabriel’s face” causing cuts and bruises to his eyes, nose, cheek and lip.

“He could have blinded him,” she said.

Janet, who lives in Hexthorpe, said the men walked away and she pursued them, asking them to stop

“They wouldn’t listen to me or stop. They just said: ‘We’ve got to get him away before he gets more angry and violent’,” she said.

“I kept asking where they were going but no-one gave me any information.”

Two more relatives arrived at the scene and one drove Janet to look for the attacker while a hysterical Gabriel was comforted by his grandmother.

Jane, who was visiting a relative in Denaby Main when the incident happened last Wednesday morning, said she saw the men walking into Fullerton House, a specialist residential school for people aged up to 19 who have complex behavioural needs, autism, and severe learning disabilities.

Janet said three members of staff who went to the scene had not offered to help or asked after Gabriel, with one reportedly “smirking”.

Recruitment consultant Janet said she was “disgusted” by the attitude of the Fullerton House staff.

She added: “I understand people need their freedom and sunshine, but they knew he (the teenager) was violent, so why was he not walking within school premises?”

Janet said she was now scared to go out and described Wednesday as the worst day of her life.

“It’s broken me,” she added. “I pray Gabriel does not remember, but unfortunately we will.”

A spokesman for the Hesley Group, which runs Fullerton House, said the 17-year-old was from the West Sussex area and had lived at Fullerton House for nine months.

Both carers who were out with him have been suspended pending an investigation.

The spokesman said: “Due to the complexity of his disability, he does not have the mental capacity to be charged.”

A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said it could not confirm if the teenager would not face charges, saying this decision would be determined by the Crown Prosecution Service, but no arrests have been made.

Chris McSharry, chief executive of the Hesley Group has said: “This is an incredibly unfortunate incident and my thoughts are with the baby and his family.

“We will be carrying out a full investigation.”

West Sussex County Council said the teenager involved had complex needs arising from autism and a learning disability.

“Through these contacts and reviewing processes, the placement at Fullerton House was assessed to be suitable to meet his needs,” a spokesman said.