Mother's 'lynching' torment

A mother has told of her anguish after a gang of children tried to strangle her five-year-old son.

The boy was allegedly led down a steep path from his back garden to woodland half a mile away by a 12-year-old girl. There a group of children are believed to have tied a rope around his neck. The boy has said he was fastened to a tree and that the children "wouldn't let me go".

His injuries are so serious that police are treating the attack on Tuesday evening as attempted murder. Detectives recovered a number of items from the scene.

Today a boy and girl, both aged 11, were still being questioned. A girl of 12 was released this morning following an unsuccessful attempt by police at a magistrates' court to get a warrant to detain her further, however she was then re-arrested this afternoon. Two boys were released earlier today and have been eliminated from the investigation.

Anthony was missing for two hours before he was found in a distressed state close to his home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

The boy had been playing on a swing in the back garden of his family's home as his mother washed dishes in the kitchen. When she called him in for his tea, he had disappeared-His scooter was abandoned on the pavement outside. Today his cousin, Tracey Jones, who found him, told how Ms Brown, 30, had walked the streets shouting his name in a frantic attempt to find him. Miss Jones said: "Terri became hysterical."

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said: "Anthony's injuries were quite horrific. There were a number of bruises to his body and marks around his neck."

Asked if the boy had been hanged, Mr Brennan replied: "He has marks around his neck which could be consistent with ligature marks."

The boy told Miss Jones that an older girl had taken him to the woodlands, known as Devil's Ditch, in Earlsheaton Park. There the girl met the other children and the attack took place.

Miss Jones said: "I asked him, 'What the hell happened?' He said, 'Some boys and girls tied a rope around my neck and tied me to a tree. They wouldn't let me go'. "

Miss Jones added: "When he saw me he just burst into tears. He was shook up and dazed. He was frantic and crying. He knows he is only allowed to play in the garden. His mother tells him that all the time."

Neighbour Edna Gray, 79, said: "His mother lifted his head to show me the marks on his neck. Anthony seemed to be in shock."

The boy was taken to Dewsbury District Hospital where he was treated overnight and discharged.

It is thought the route Anthony took from his home in Princess Crescent would have been down a steep and narrow footpath leading away from the back of his garden. It leads onto a patch of wasteland. Anthony would have crossed a road and walked down a smart residential street and onto an overgrown football pitch.

He would have been led diagonally across the pitch which opens up onto the parkland and woods. Police believe the incident happened between 5.30pm and 6pm at the back of Earlsheaton Medical Centre.

Specially-trained officers are today continuing to question Anthony about what happened.

His father, Mark Hinchliffe, 36, who split from his mother four months ago, said: "It's absolutely awful and someone is to blame. I want to know how children can do something like this. Anthony has always been told not to go off with strangers. Though he is small for his age he is a very active child and plays with everyone.

"He would not have left the cul-de-sac alone."

The incident bears a chilling similarity to the 1993 murder of two-year-old James Bulger, who was led away by two boys aged 10 while waiting for his mother outside a shop in Bootle.

Meanwhile, five youths have been charged with the murder of 40-year-old Gary Rae from Hailsham, East Sussex, who died in hospital after he was found bleeding outside his flat on Sunday night.

William Devall and Shane Challice, both 18 and from Hailsham, a 15-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys, who have not been named, were appearing at Eastbourne magistrates' court today.

Two other youths arrested in connection with the attack have been released without charge.