An autistic boy who was "bullied for year" says teachers wouldn't listen until he was left unconscious in a brutal attack.
Jeremiah Khan was allegedly followed and set upon in May, leaving him needing hospital treatment.
Police are investigating a group of boys after the incident which followed an attack hours earlier in the school canteen after more than a year of bullying.
Before the attack happened mum Isa and Jeremiah claimed those in charge of his safety didn’t take complaints seriously.
Jeremiah told MyLondon : “I tried to tell the teachers, but they just wouldn't listen to me.
“They told me to [be] ‘mature’ and think I was being silly. They wouldn’t try and defend me.”
Jeremiah's condition means he sometimes struggles in social situations, which has made him a target for bullies.
“Some people just attack me because they think I’m weird, they think I’m different,” he added.
Boys would manipulate him into doing things or lie to teachers to get him in trouble.
He said: “Some of the boys were bored. so they just decided [to] target [me] because I had no friends [and] looked like a loner.
“They started pressuring me to do stuff I didn’t want to do and they sometimes even lie about me.”
Things gradually escalated to name-calling and then became physical.
He says he has been violently attacked in school on three occasions.
This includes being punched in the face twice in the canteen by boys who are alleged to have later carried out the attack that put him in hospital.
Warning signs were evident he was in danger on his journey to school long before the most severe incident.
The distance from Jeremiah’s home in Southwark to Westminster City School in Victoria is a lengthy one.
Travelling to school there have been no problems, but there has been a steady escalation of events on his way home, two of which required police involvement.
He was first attacked on the bus by a boy from school who was trying to steal his bag.
A member of the public intervened and the incident was reported to police.
Then, a group of boys stole his bag and used it to lure him into an area he didn’t know for a fight.
A more serious incident was once again averted by a member of the public who told Jeremiah to call his parents and police.
By this point his mum Isa was getting seriously worried and contacted the school to find out what was going on.
She told MyLondon : “We came and picked him up that day without a bag,
"So I contacted the school and informed the head of year.
“[The teacher] spoke with the boys concerned and said they took the bag home for safekeeping.”
Isa was shocked the teacher had accepted such an explanation: “I said: ‘this is not what happens. Jeremiah is bullied inside and outside of school.
“This is his personal property, how can somebody physically take it from him and you say it’s safekeeping? They tried to lure him into an unfamiliar area to attack him.
She said she told the teacher: “This is not right. You all keep playing things down [and] not dealing with this situation.
“You're not coming down hard on these children to stop this bullying, which is why it keeps going on.”
Isa was troubled to discover that the teacher had allegedly punished her son after he got into a tussle with another boy without asking what had happened.
After this incident Jeremiah was punched in the computer lab by a boy who said his voice was “annoying.”
It came only a week after he returned having recovered from the incident that left him unconscious.
At that time, the pupil had been leaving school at lunchtime to avoid possible future attacks.
His mother said she did not like the arrangement as it involved him missing school, in particular subjects he enjoyed like art and music.
She said: “We had a meeting and I said; ‘I'm not sending my son to school. I don't know what's going to happen. But his life is at stake now.’”
Isa expected a response from the school’s leadership team, but claims it was only after she contacted the chief executives of Westminster and Southwark councils and the head of education, that the headteacher got in touch.
After this a raft of measures were introduced by the school designed to protect Jeremiah.
They agreed to pay for a taxi taking him home until the end of the year, teachers listened to his complaints and escorted him to lessons.
However, his safe journey to school is now in jeopardy.
He enjoys attending Westminster City School and doesn’t want to leave.
But with term starting again his mother Isa feels she will have to keep him at home for his own safety.
Westminster City School has said it won’t pay for Jeremiah to return home in a taxi anymore.
Isa has applied to the Southwark Council to help transport him from school, but her application has been rejected
She has appealed, but a decision is not due until well after Jeremiah’s school year has begun.
The Metropolitan Police told My London enquiries were ongoing and as yet no arrests had been made relating to the assault which saw Jeremiah knocked unconscious.
A spokesperson for Westminster City School, said: "The safety and welfare of our students is our highest priority. As such, we have worked very closely with the family to quickly respond to the matter and ensure the necessary support is in place.
“In line with our behaviour and anti-bullying policies, appropriate, robust sanctions have been taken however, as we are currently supporting the police with an investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment on that further."
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