A mother claims she was told by police they would not investigate after her 12-year-old daughter was battered in a park because it was ‘not cost effective’.

Victoria Woods claims a Greater Manchester Police officer also suggested she should resolve the issue herself by visiting the parents of the attacker - and blamed the government for a lack of police resources.

She said her daughter Isabelle was left with scratches, bruises and covered in mud after being punched and kicked at Wildmoore Avenue Park in Holts village in Oldham early on Wednesday evening.

Victoria said her daughter was also thrown down a hill and hit her head against a tree in the unprovoked attack.

Isabelle said a group of 15 youths - none of whom she knew - were at the park when one of them set upon her. Another, she said, filmed the assault on her phone.

Victoria, 31, described GMP’s response as ‘diabolical’ and has made a formal complaint.

(Image: Dominic Salter)

“Izzy had rung me, she was in floods of tears and could barely talk to me,” she said.

“She got home and was absolutely caked in mud. I called 101 and was put through to the control centre.

“I spent ten minutes on hold, then a woman, who was really nice, took details of the attack and said someone would ring me back.

“I got a call the next day from a lady who tried to tell me very nicely that because it wasn’t a major crime and it was ‘just kids fighting’, in her words.

“She said the inspector had decided it was not ‘cost effective’ to investigate it in terms of the cost and manpower hours.

“I made it very clear I wasn’t impressed and I didn’t think it was an adequate response. I have had to keep Isabelle off school because she is in so much pain.

“Her school seemed more worried than the police - that’s not adequate.

“It’s not just girls fighting. There was a group of 15, one attacked her and one was videoing it.

“It was not a situation she could defend herself in. My daughter is terrified of going out.”

Victoria said she later received a call from a detective constable.

“She said exactly the same - its not cost effective, it’s not a major crime, we’ve not got many police officers, and tried blaming the government for not having enough police officers, and said that crime had gone through the roof,” she added.

“She kept repeating it was not cost effective, that she doesn’t like ringing people to say they will not be investigating, but it is the government’s fault and that they don’t have enough police officers.

“She suggested I go and sort it out myself. She said I should try and find out where the girl lives and go and ask her mum nicely to get her to stop.

“I have had a police inspector ring back because I said I wanted to make a complaint. He said saying it was ‘not cost effective’ to investigate was a bad choice of words.

“But two of them said it to me, so it is obviously the underlying cause.

“This is something they should be dealing with. Kids should not be roaming around in gangs attacking people and not being held to account.

“The inspector’s response was that because it was an isolated incident, and not persistent, or any form of bullying or harassment, they will not be investigating.

“He said it was just the way things are at the moment.”

Isabelle, a pupil at Saddleworth School, said: “I went down to the park with my friends and went down to a little valley. “There was a group of about 15 people. This one girl was getting in my way, so I said can you move, because she had separated me from my friends.

“She pulled me by the hair, and she was kicking me and punching me, and I hit my head against a tree, she kept shouting at me ‘get back here get back here’ but I managed to get away.

(Image: Dominic Salter)

“I didn’t want to fight her, because that’s the way I’ve been brought up.

“There was a mark on my chest from a punch and a mud print of a footprint on my thigh, and I have scratches all down my arm and down my legs, and bruising on my knees and elbow.

“The attack was by the one girl and the others were encouraging her.

“One girl was videoing it. I didn’t feel the pain at first because of the adrenalin but I was later in loads of pain.”

(Image: Mark Waugh)

Earlier this year, GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins admitted the force was ‘just not able to get to every single crime and investigate every single crime to the degree the public would wish us to’.

He denied the force had lost control of the streets, but said cuts meant dealing with ‘murders, serious sexual offences and terrorism’ had to take priority over investigating lesser crimes.

Last month, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary found that GMP ‘requires improvement’.

Officers fail to attend incidents quickly enough and initial investigations are not always good enough, its report said.

Deputy Chief Constable, Ian Pilling said the report reflected the fact that the force had lost 2,000 officers and 1,000 backroom staff and PCSOs in recent years as demands on the service had risen.

Superintendent Danny Inglis of GMP’s Oldham Borough, said: “On 18 April, we received a report that a 12-year-old girl had been assaulted on Wildmoor Avenue, Oldham.

“I understand the alarm that this assault on the young girl may have caused but I want to assure local people that there are a number of options that we look into in order to best respond to a crime including safeguarding measures that could possibly be put in place.

“In this instance, the assessment that was made deemed that there wasn’t an immediate threat, harm or risk posed to the victim or the wider community at the time the report was made so it wouldn’t be in the public’s interest to continue with the investigation.

“This is due to the amount of time and resources that would be spent on the investigation where a successful conviction would be unlikely. These are not easy decisions to make and have to be considered in the context of the other crimes we are dealing with.

“Should any new, credible information come to light, it will be taken extremely seriously and a further assessment will be made. Even if the information is not directly linked to this assault, it will help us build a better picture of crime in the area and understand crime trends in order to respond to incidents most appropriately.

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