Geraldton teenage girl suffers facial injuries and bruising after high school bullies allegedly bash her

A teenage girl who ran inside a Geraldton fast food outlet to call for help after she was allegedly bashed by school bullies had to be rushed to hospital by ambulance. The 15-year-old Geraldton Senior High School student suffered facial injuries and bruising during the alleged attack on Wednesday. St John WA was called to the KFC restaurant on Marine Parade just after 4pm and took the teen to Geraldton Regional Hospital. The girl’s mother claimed on social media that her daughter had been attacked at KFC by “the same girls who keep bullying her at school”. “Cops were outnumbered,” she wrote. “A couple tried to help but also got injured.” The mother feared her daughter had sustained a serious neck injury, though that turned out not to be the case. “Seeing my daughter in a neck brace is the last thing I wanted to do on a Wednesday evening,” she said. “My daughter is fine, thankfully. She could have been seriously injured.” The mother, who declined to talk to The West Australian, blamed Geraldton SHS for failing to act after she had previously raised concerns about bullying at the school. “Thanks Geraldton Senior High for not holding these girls accountable for their actions even though you promised me you would last week after I emailed you,” she wrote. Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said he was concerned to learn a teenager had been allegedly set upon by other teens who followed her inside KFC. “Apparently they were dropped off and laid in waiting, three of them got into an argument and a couple of people came to assist the school students who got attacked,” he said. “They got assaulted and then they came back with some more people and continued the assault.” Mr Van Styn said it had been a long time since Geraldton had seen such an attack. “It’s not becoming of a friendly, small city such as ours, but I’m sure the police will immediately get to the bottom of it and take care of the alleged perpetrators of this horrendous assault,” he said. “We’ve seen youth crime on the rise throughout WA, particularly to the north in our regional areas, and we need to stamp it out here so that we don’t get the problems of Carnarvon to the Kimberleys that are being experienced right now.” The Education Department confirmed the matter had been referred to police. “We are aware of an incident involving a student after school ... that occurred off the school site in the Geraldton CBD, which we understand is now a police matter,” Midwest region education director Lisa Criddle said. “The school is supporting students who may have been impacted by this incident.” Police said it was believed the 15-year-old victim was assaulted by three other teenagers, two girls and a boy. Investigations were continuing. The shocking bashing in the heart of Geraldton comes as police this week deployed dozens of extra officers, drones, canine units and the air wing unit to Broome in a desperate effort to combat a wave of “Americanised gangster culture” gripping the Kimberley region. WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said police had identified a disturbing social media trend known as the TikTok Challenge, which encourages groups of juveniles to “better one another” by increasing the volume and severity of crimes. Police Minister Paul Papalia said the influx of resources, codenamed Operation Regional Shield, was just the start of a widespread response.