UK boys held over brutal torture

LONDON – British police said yesterday they were questioning two schoolboys aged 10 and 11 after a bloodthirsty attack on contemporaries that reportedly involved bricks, knives and cigarette burns.

The shocking assault emerged when a nine-year-old boy was found on Saturday in a state of shock walking the streets of former mining village Edlington in Yorkshire, northern England, covered in blood. He told local people that he and his 11-year-old friend had been beaten up. The 11-year-old was later found lying face down by the edge of a stream with serious head injuries and covered in dirt and blood. The BBC reported that their cellphones, trainers and just three pounds in cash were taken in the attack. Reports said the boys had been out riding their bicycles when they were attacked. Residents described their shock on finding the first boy, who had to have surgery on his arm. ‘My husband saw him walking past the outside of our house and he was covered in what my husband thought was red paint,’ said Jean Wright, 68. ‘He was shaking very badly and going into shock. We managed to get his name out of him and my husband told me to call an ambulance.’ Local police said two boys were arrested soon afterwards at nearby allotments and remain in custody. Officers are carrying out house-to-house enquiries. None of the children involved in the case can be named because English law prevents the press identifying minors in criminal cases. Both victims are still in hospital. – Nampa-AFP