A BOY who was filmed assaulting a teenager in West Swindon has been rehoused for his own safety under an emergency order after a group of vigilantes came to his father’s house this week.

The 14-year-old was due to be sentenced for common assault, a public order offence and attempted criminal damage yesterday, but after hearing he was not safe at his address, he has been taken into the care of children services.

After the video of the assault went viral, the boy has breached his bail five times, putting strain on police resources, but the courts were unable to impose stricter conditions due to his age.

The video had been uploaded to the Man Up Behaviour Facebook page after the attack on June 2, and had been viewed more than 50,000 times by the time the boy was arrested. Police are unable to remove the unedited version from the web.

In the footage, a 17-year-old is surrounded by youths, punched to the ground, and forced to kiss the shoe of one of his attackers, before being kicked and spat on.

At a previous bail hearing for the 14-year-old, Hashim Chaudri, prosecuting, told Swindon Magistrates Court: “He has been arrested for seven offences since March, and has four convictions from April to June.

“He is a burden to the police resources, and has been arrested on five separate occasions for breach of bail, so it is thought no conditions can be imposed on him he could abide by.

“He is progressing from simple thefts to dwelling burglaries, and recently a high profile assault which was uploaded online.”

Wayne Hardy, defending the boy yesterday, asked how he felt after the video was shown to the bench.

“It made him feel uncomfortable, and he is very embarrassed by his actions that day,” he said.

“He is very sorry for the humiliation and harm he caused to the person subjected to the assault.

“What happened was a combination of bravado, peer pressure, and stupidity. He has to accept responsibility for his actions.”

Addressing the court, the boy’s father said: “We had an incident last night where people came to the house trying to kick the door in. I do not want to go back there myself, so it is not safe for him to be there with me, and I don’t want him staying there.”

A member of the youth offending team applied for a week’s adjournment to the sentencing and asked Wiltshire Children Services to find accommodation.

“He is not safe at that address, and I do not think he is safe in Swindon,” they said.

“The youth offending team are of the opinion that a curfew is integral to the order in terms of helping him not to re-offend, but also taking into account the welfare consideration.”

The boy was released on conditional bail to live at the address found for him, a curfew between 9pm and 7am, and to have at least three contacts a week with the youth offending team. He will return to court on July 7.