A 16-year-old boy accused of attacking a Syrian refugee at school has fled the country with his mother, his brother says.

The teen and his family have faced threats after video of the incident at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield provoked outrage after being posted online.

The boy, who is due to be charged with assault, and his mum have left the UK and are staying abroad with relatives, his older brother claims.

The brother also boasted of an "army" surrounding the assault suspect, whose home has had a visible police presence for days.

Footage shows Jamal, the 15-year-old Syrian boy, being racially abused, dragged to the floor and held down by his throat as water is poured over his face.

(Image: mirror.co.uk)

The 16-year-old's told MailOnline: "They’ve left Huddersfield and they’ve left the UK for the time being.

"My brother doesn’t have any bail conditions so it’s not been a problem.

"There have threats though but we’ve got a good group - a big army - around us so there’s no reason to worry."

He denied claims that the 16-year-old was a bully.

The suspect has denied that it was a racially-aggravated attack and claimed that he had been on "good terms" with Jamal.

The teen who will be charged with assault when he appears in youth court told Sun Online: "I regret (the incident) but wish to make it clear I was not responsible for breaking his arm, nor had I been bullying him over a period of time as has been reported.

"The incident was isolated and came about from an altercation between us earlier that day.

Police outside Almondbury Community School after reports of protest

(Image: Dan Rowlands / SWNS.com)

"The incident was not racial as up to that time we had been on good terms."

Three weeks before the October 25 attack, the Syrian boy had begged for help and complained of being bullied in an email he sent to the school, West Yorkshire Police, the Department for Education and other agencies, local Councillor Bernard McGuin told Examiner Live.

Kirklees Council has said it has been working with the school and police for "a number of weeks".

It is said that the family now want to leave Huddersfield after settling there following their arrival in the UK.

Show more

Jamal's family had fled war-torn Homs before making their way to Britain as refugees.

A GoFundMe page set up to support the family had received almost £150,000 in donations on Friday morning.