Boy suffered concussion after being beaten in Rotten Row mistaken identity attack

18th November 2024

A young boy is still being treated for the affects of a horrendous attack a year after the incident occurred in Southport.

The boy, along with his friend, suffered injuries needing hospital treatment after they were attacked in a shocking case of mistaken identity by a security guard during the weekend of the 2023 Southport Comedy Festival.

Their attacker Lee Wilkinson, 39, was working as a security guard at the festival when he received a report that offenders on bicycles had stolen property from one of the marquees.

A Liverpool Crown Court judge said that “finger of suspicion” fell on the boys though there was no evidence they had done anything wrong.

The pair were chased down and accosted on nearby Rotten Row. Prosecutors said in court that Wilkinson demanded their bags but before they had a chance to respond he grabbed them both “around their necks and threw them into her metal gate, causing their heads to smack into the gate.”

The Liverpool Echo reported the prosecution as stating “He began hitting them and tried to pull the bag off one of them, it was around his neck and began to choke him. The bag then broke, he took the bag and continued to assault both boys before getting back in the car and driving away.”

The frightened victims called their mums and were taken to A&E. One boy remains under the care of Alder Hey teams for the affects of his injuries at the time.

Wilkinson pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating. Judge Menary imposed a two year community order and ordered him to carry out 15 days of rehabilitation activities and 100 hours unpaid work. He also ordered him to pay each boy £500 compensation.