A SWINDON MP has criticised groups who have sent threatening letters to The Ridgeway School in the wake of the hammer attack on a pupil.

The police say extreme Muslim groups and white supremacists have contacted the school since the attack on 15-year-old Henry Webster, pictured right.

Anne Snelgrove, the Labour MP for South Swindon, says while she is not surprised by the development, the groups' actions must be condemned.

Mrs Snelgrove held a public meeting at the Ellendune Centre in Wroughton on Saturday to speak to local people about their concerns and the Ridgeway School was top of the list.

She said: "The important thing is to give people the opportunity to tell me how they feel about what happened at Ridgeway.

"People are generally concerned but I think they can see a way through it and are coping."

Azim Khan, the spokesman for the Thamesdown Islamic Association, recently criticised groups like the BNP for trying to capitalise on the attack, allegedly carried out by a group of Asian boys. The far right party has been leafleting in Wroughton and said it was considering patrolling the village and manning the school gates.

Mrs Snelgrove said: "I think everybody at the meeting, regardless of their views, ignored the BNP leaflets coming through their doors.

"Most threw them away and those that didn't passed them on to me or the police. I absolutely condemn groups sending letters to the school, out of hand.

"Unfortunately, it's a by-product of these events. We saw quite a lot of activity immediately afterwards but fortunately that seems to have died down for the village.

"But it's possible the school may still be receiving horrible things like that. I'm sadly not surprised that it happened but we don't want to see either of these sort of groups in Swindon."

One woman at the meeting, who did not want to be named, said the school should have seen the attack coming.

"I put the blame on the school," she said. "It has buried its head in the sand to circumstances going on for a very long time. This has raised its ugly head and come to what it has come to. The community has come together but it's too late."

But Mrs Snelgrove said: "It's true a lot of people have said they have been concerned about the behaviour for some time and again it's fair to say the school has been through an interim period when it was between headteachers.

"The last one left some time ago and there were some concerns when she was here. The school has perhaps not kept its eye on the ball regarding behaviour as much as it should have.

"The new head has only been in the post a few months and he has a very firm grip on the situation and is very well supported by staff and governors.

"I have every confidence they will continue to look at behaviour and make sure that it is not an issue for the school in the future.

"The other thing we all said is that we understand these young men need to have firm boundaries and it's not just the school's job, it's also the home and the rest of the community.

"There's three parts and it's wrong to blame the school completely."