School criticised as Wroughton hammer attackers are jailed

1:49pm Friday 9th May 2008

A judge today criticised the school where a teenager was beaten to the brink of death with a hammer as she imprisoned five gang members involved in the "brutal" attack.

Nazrul Amin, 19, two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, all from Swindon, were part of group of 13 young men convicted for their part in severely beating Henry Webster, at Ridgeway School in Wroughton, last year.

The attack in the school tennis courts last year was previously likened to a scene from a Quentin Tarantino film by prosecutor James Patrick.

Ginger-haired Henry was left fighting for his life and needed surgery after the assault which left him with three skull fractures and brain injury.

Judge Carol Hagen criticised Ridgeway School when sentencing the five young men at Bristol Crown Court today and asked why there was no staff presence in the tennis courts at the end of the school day.

She added it was "a miracle" Henry survived the assault.

She said: "What I find little short of astonishing is the fact that not a single member of staff was present in the tennis courts when the bell went."

She went on: "Given the confrontation earlier that day which was known to staff I simply fail to understand why no member of staff was present."

Nazrul Amin was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders institute and the remaining four youths were given detention and training sentences.

A 16-year-old and a 15-year-old both received eight months, another 15-year-old received 18 months and a 17-year-old received 12 months.

Wasif Khan, 19, Amjad Qazi, 20, convicted of causing grievous bodily harm, and six other Asian men convicted of conspiracy charges will be sentenced later today.

In the second of two trials, Aqduss Rauf, 20, and Bilal Yakub, 18, Rouble Meah, 20, Mahbub Ali, 19, and Kamran Khan, 24, were found guilty of conspiracy to cause actual bodily harm .

A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder at the start of the second trial.