A mother who posted a Snapchat video of her daughter being attacked online to shame her bullies broke down in tears as she spoke about the family’s ordeal in an interview.
Claire Walton shared video footage of her daughter Hollie, 13, being attacked outside Blessed Edward Jones high school in Rhyl, North Wales, as up to 40 children looked on.
Speaking on ITV’s This Morning on Wednesday, Claire began to cry as she admitted the clip was ‘hard’ for her to watch.
Claire, who appeared on the show with Hollie, said she’d felt compelled to share the video because the bully had been bragging about it.
Hollie begged for her tormentors to leave her alone, and said she hopes to return to school soon.
Claire Walton broke down on This Morning when she re-watched a video of her daughter being bullied
As presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield introduced the duo Claire began to cry, saying: ‘Sorry it’s really hard for me to watch.’
The mother-of-four said she had gone into the school on the day the attack took place to complain about the bullying.
She said her daughter had already had food and cups thrown at her during lunch breaks, and glitter poured on her during textiles lessons.
Claire recalled: ‘I said ”I should know that my child is safe when she’s in your care, and the amount of incidents she’s told me that she has reported to you and it’s gone unnoticed… I’m not happy with the way you’re dealing with things.
The Snapchat video saw a group of teenagers watch Hollie get beaten up outside their school
‘They assured me they would send an email out to all the teachers to make them aware, and they told me that anytime Hollie went to them with any problems with anything she would be listened to straight away.’
Viewers were told a rumour had spread around the school suggesting the bully would attack Hollie at home time, so she asked her teachers if she could leave 10 minutes early. They refused permission because she wouldn’t tell them why.
Hollie was attacked as she walked home, with an estimated 30 to 40 fellow pupils watching.
The incident was filmed and the bully reportedly bragged about it, and showed other pupils the clip.
Phillip Schofield had to hand Claire some tissues after she became overwhelmed about her daughter’s bullying
Hollie asked her bullies to leave her alone and hopes to return to her school soon
Claire said: ‘The attack happened on Friday but I didn’t post it until the Sunday, because I found out the girl who attacked her was going around laughing about it, showing people the video.
‘So I thought ”If you want everybody to see it then I’ll share it but I did not expect it to go as viral as it did. I don’t so much regret it, I didn’t want to do it originally because it’s not a very nice film you want put on of your child.’
When asked what she’d like to say to her bullies, Hollie said: ‘If they would all just leave me alone.’
Hollie now wants to return to her school, but her mum isn’t so keen for this to happen.
The incident happened after the 13-year-old left Blessed Edward Jones high school in Rhyl
Claire said: ‘I’m not really happy with it but that’s obviously a discussion we’re going to have to have at home, because i don’t feel the teachers are keeping her safe there.
‘The teachers have asked us to go into the school so they can apologise to her, which I will allow them to do because obviously it’s closure for Hollie as well.
‘There’s a lot of children going through it on a daily basis and some children don’t have the confidence to speak up and tell people. Luckily, I’m very proud of the way Hollie has dealt with all of his because she has held her head up high.’
The school previously said in a statement: ‘As a Catholic community, Blessed Edward Jones High School was saddened to witness the behaviour of one of our family last Friday.
‘I would like to assure all pupils, parents and carers that we take such incidents very seriously.
Claire says she doesn’t think the school is keeping her teenage daughter safe from bullies
‘We respect and value every member of our community, recognising the need for the values of kindness and compassion in school life.
‘We will continue to work tirelessly to provide a safe and secure school and set high standards in terms of behaviour towards each other, even at times of difficulty.
‘I can assure everybody associated with our school that such behaviour will not be tolerated and the matters surrounding the incident will be investigated fully and fairly.’
Police are also investigating and are appealing for witnesses.