Wolverhampton mother asks for surveillance cameras in school after attack on autistic son

The mother of a young boy with complex needs called for video surveillance to be installed in all special schools after her son was attacked by a teaching assistant.

Her 13-year-old son Tobie from Wolverhampton is autistic and does not speak.

He was kicked, pushed and had his head held down during the 20-minute attack. His mother Charlotte said a security camera recorded the entire attack.

“To see this man attack him in a place he thought was safe was just horrifying,” Charlotte said.

Tobie’s attacker, 61-year-old William Kevin Clifford, pleaded guilty to child cruelty at Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier this month and was given a nine-month suspended sentence.

Warning: This story contains details of an attack that some readers may find disturbing

The attack took place in the playground of Tettenhall Wood School in Wolverhampton, a special school that Tobie attends.

The school said it had “followed all procedures correctly” and that “the safety and well-being of children is always at the heart of all our activities.”

The footage is grainy, but it is clear that Tobie was attacked repeatedly over the course of 20 minutes.

At one point, Tobie tried to get up, but Clifford pounced on the boy, knocked him down and pushed him face down to the ground.

Tobie tried to crawl away, but the teaching assistant followed him and kneed him in the back as he crouched behind a small gate in the playground.

At Clifford’s court appearance, Charlotte saw the footage for the first time, even though her son had already been attacked in April 2023.

“I was devastated, I was horrified,” she said. “I cannot for the life of me understand what could drive a person to do something like that.”

Tobie had always loved school. The 13-year-old, who is mentally at the level of a two-year-old, needs individual support and Charlotte had always trusted the adults around him.

When she got the call from the school that her son had been injured by a staff member, she could hardly believe it.

“I had to call the principal back. I thought it must have been a mistake, but then she confirmed it again, that my child had been attacked.”

Tobie came home that evening, upset and distressed, but since he cannot speak, he was unable to tell his mother what had happened.

Charlotte soon saw the evidence. The police had asked her to map Tobie and discovered bruises and marks all over him.

“If the security camera hadn’t recorded it, we would never have known what happened to Tobie,” Charlotte said.

“If this could happen at Tobie’s school with an impressive team of staff, it can happen anywhere.”

Charlotte has no problems with the school, which she describes as “excellent”. She believes that all educational establishments teaching vulnerable children should have CCTV in the corridors, classrooms and playground, and that this surveillance should be in place for at least 12 months.

Currently, it is up to each individual school to decide whether they want video surveillance.

In the past, activists had already petitioned the Scottish Parliament, but their call for mandatory surveillance was rejected due to concerns about the balance between privacy and protection.

Beth Morrison, founder of Positive and Active Behaviour Support Scotland, supports more than 4,000 families across the UK – the majority of whom come to her because their child has come home from school with unexplained injuries.

She said CCTV would protect children with complex needs who could not tell their parents if something had happened to them.

“We are not calling for video surveillance in all schools, but only in institutions where vulnerable children grow up,” she said.

“So many of our children cannot speak, they cannot tell us what happened. They are not credible witnesses. If something happened, there is nothing, there are no cameras, there is no footage, no evidence.”

“Without video surveillance, we cannot achieve justice.”

The Association of School and College Leaders said privacy and cost were among the issues schools needed to consider and that serious incidents of this kind were rare.

Charlotte said Tobie’s whole world had changed and he found it difficult to trust anyone, but despite everything that had happened he was still “very resilient”.

“I’m so proud of him. He’s back in the same school, with the adults he trusts – who I know and trust. He’s doing so well, despite what that man did to him.”