A teenager who broke his back when he fell from a bridge while being pursued by a gang has been told that he will never walk again.
Joshua Davies, 18, who received a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, was being pelted with stones when he fell 50ft from the bridge near his home in Pontypridd, south Wales.
Michael Morgan, his stepfather, 35, said that Joshua had broken his spine in four places, both his arms and both his legs when he fell into the dried-up riverbed. He said: “Joshua and his friend were walking by the river when they realised some boys were following them. They heard them shout: ‘There they are. Let’s get them!’
“Joshua and his pal climbed on to the steel supports of the bridge to get away but the boys started throwing stones at them. One of the stones hit Joshua on the shoulder and another hit him on his foot and he lost his grip and fell.”
Joshua’s family said that he was often picked on by a gang of younger boys. Mr Morgan said: “He is an easy target. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s when he was 14... He does not always have a sense of danger. We have tried to instil it into him, but you can’t wrap him up in cotton wool.”
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His family said that Joshua was attacked this summer because he refused to buy alcohol for younger teenagers.
Mr Morgan said: “He came out of the local corner shop and one of the boys jumped on his back and started hitting him. That was the only time he defended himself and he was arrested and charged, which made him scared to defend himself again. Joshua looks like a fully grown man, but really it is like picking on a child.”
Joshua’s family said that police had ignored complaints about the gang. South Wales police said that it had received complaints of assault between April 2011 and June this year. “The circumstances surrounding these allegations were fully investigated and appropriate actions were taken,” a spokesman said
Cheryl Morgan, 44, Joshua’s mother, a full-time carer for her other son, Michael, who has autism, said: “Joshua is not a fighter. He’s a very gentle young man who now faces life in a wheelchair. This could have been prevented if the police had listened to him.”
Joshua had been due to start a course in electrical engineering this week. He is in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. Two youths aged 15 and one of 16 were arrested and remain on bail.