A MOTHER has spoken of the moment she found her 10-year-old son in the street after being viciously beaten by a gang of bullies.
Natalie Wood, 38, said her son Jamie is now petrified to go outside and "had his spirit broken" after about 10 youths attacked him and stamped on his head in Aberdeen.
Jamie was walking home from swimming with a three friends in Shedocksley, Aberdeen, on Thursday night when he was attacked.
He was taken to hospital with facial injuries.
Ms Wood branded her son's attackers, believed to be aged 10 to 14, "animals" and said she was working with police to trace them. The mother-of-four said: "I'm absolutely heartbroken that this has happened to my wee boy. He's told me that he never wants to step outside the house again.
"I'm just disgusted that these animals could pick on a boy just heading home from swimming with his pals."
Several police cars and an ambulance were called to the scene after the alarm was raised at about 8.15pm.
Jamie was treated by paramedics at the scene for a laceration on his face, before being taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Ms Wood said: "They were stamping on his head - in fact all the injuries were on his face and none on his body. They could have killed him."
Two friends of Jamie saw the attack and ran to Ms Wood's house to tell her. She said: "They were filming it on their phones and put it up on Facebook. They just seemed to find it hysterical that they were beating him up."
A police spokeswoman said: "We are responding to a number of reports regarding these incidents. Inquiries are at an early stage and as yet no-one has been arrested or charged.
"We would urge the public to pass on any information and allow us to investigate."
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