Garda inquiry after girl, 15, tied up by boy gang in school yard

A 15-YEAR-OLD girl was allegedly grabbed by up to five boys, tied up, gagged and blindfolded in a schoolyard.

A number of the boys at the Galway school were suspended for three days, with an emergency board of management meeting held last night to investigate the matter. However, it has emerged that the Department of Education has no guidelines in place for schools faced with disciplinary problems, with boards of management expected to set their own rules regarding bullying and suspensions.

A Garda criminal investigation was launched following events last Friday at St Jarlath’s Vocational School in Mountbellew. However, the media storm surrounding the incident has caused anger around Mountbellew, with one source describing it as being “blown out of all proportion”.

The local source said, while an incident did take place, it did not take place in the manner widely reported in the media yesterday and there was no gagging of the girl and no attempt made to pull down her pants.

Some parents of pupils at St Jarlath’s are said to be “very annoyed” at the attention received by the events in the schoolyard last Friday.

It’s understood the yard was under supervision by staff and the section of yard where the alleged assault took place had been patrolled 12 minutes beforehand.

The girl’s mother, Mary, spoke on 2FM’s Gerry Ryan Show on Monday and yesterday and described theincident as “as near as sexually assaulting her, as far as we are concerned”.

Mary said that her daughter was “very distraught” as a result of what happened and had been unable to return to school. The 15-year-old is the only girl in the class.

According to Mary, her daughter was talking with friends in the schoolyard when a number of boys came behind her and tied her hands together with tape before knocking her to the ground and tying her legs together. “She was screaming and telling them to get away. They tied the scarf around her to hold her down. They then stuffed the scarf into her mouth and blindfolded her.”

Some of those involved wrote on the girl’s face, said the woman, while another boy recorded the whole thing on his mobile phone.

Her daughter has been at home since Friday.

“She keeps breaking down when we talk about it and we’re just waiting for a counsellor,” said the mother. “I don’t want trouble for anybody. I just want what’s right for my daughter.”

Mary wondered why students who misbehave in other schools are expelled, but the boys involved in this incident were not.

A spokesman for the Department of Education and Science said yesterday that the issue of discipline is a matter for each individual school. “It’s up to the board of management in the school to set their own guidelines regarding bullying or suspensions.”

Principal at St Jarlath’s in Mountbellew Mattie Finnerty had no comment to make yesterday, on the basis that the allegations were now the basis of a Garda investigation: “We’re supporting that, 100%.”

The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland was “not in a position to comment” on the matter.