A Swindon schoolboy has been left shaken up after he was accosted by a group of teenagers and forced to hand over his £1,000 jacket on his walk home from school.
The 13-year-old had his Canada Goose coat taken from him while walking home from The Dorcan Academy along the Eldene cycle path.
He was accosted by two older teenagers who stole the black coat, which features a fur trim, from him, his mum told the Adver.
The incident occurred at around 4pm on Thursday, March 9, and has left both the boy and his mother devastated.
The boy and his mother have been kept anonymous, but the 29-year-old mum spoke to the Adver about the incident.
“I’m more worried about my son than the coat as he is so upset and it has really scared him,” she said.
“It has left me sick with worry.
"I was angry at first but I would rather have him safe with no coat than seriously hurt!
“It says a lot when a teenager can’t even walk a short distance from school without something like this happening.
“No one else was around and they rode past him from behind on bikes but took a double take to face him,” she said.
“They rode back to him and asked if it was a Canada Goose coat and started shouting at him take it off and give it to them.
“My son tried to walk away but they wouldn't let him, standing in the way, and demanding him to hand it over.
“There was nothing else he could do he was scared they were going to hurt him so gave it to them and they rode off.”
The mother, who lives in Park North, has been left feeling helpless following the incident.
“What can I physically do aside from walk him to and from school every day, but that is not possible when you are a single working parent,” she said.
“When I was at school you didn’t have to even think about this sort of thing happening, you know you could walk home safely but I see more and more reports of this happening all the time now.”
Both the school and the police have been alerted to the incident.
A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have received a report of a teenager having his coat stolen by two suspects riding bicycles, and we have started an investigation.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact the police on 101, quoting reference 54230025962.
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