The mother of a teenage boy who had his teeth “smashed into the roof of his mouth” has criticised his attacker’s sentence and called for more to be done. The woman’s 16-year-old son was punched twice in the face at a gathering last year, forcing him to need surgery on his teeth and live in mental anguish over the attack. His attacker, who was 15 at the time and is now 17, has received a referral order and was ordered to pay £1,000 to his victim.
But with the cost of dental repairs being estimated at more than £8,000 the boy’s mum has pleaded for help from clinics to help her son and slammed the justice system over the sentence. Speaking to The Argus after the sentencing she said: "I'm disappointed. I question what justice means when you can go around injuring someone and not get a criminal conviction that would go on file.
"The stress of going through the justice system was not worth the outcome. “There’s no justice – it won’t fix his teeth.” A hearing at Hove Crown Court was told how the boy and his attacker, both of whom cannot be named for legal reasons, were at a gathering in Eastbourne when the attack took place .
During an altercation the victim was slapped in the face by another boy before his attacker punched him in the mouth and the forehead. The court heard that the victim walked to the hospital crying after two of his teeth were displaced and he suffered a fractured skull. The boy’s mother estimated that dental treatments to repair his mouth.