Paddleboarder sentenced for hitting boy in park

A woman who assaulted a 12-year-old boy with a paddle has been handed a suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay him compensation.

Fay Johnson, 32, from Yate, admitted a charge of causing actual bodily harm to Antwon Forrest after she had accused a group of children of throwing mud and stones at her.

Antwon suffered an injury to his head after Johnson struck him with a paddle at Conham River Park in March 2022. The incident left Antwon needing hospital treatment and could leave him with a permanent scar on his forehead.

Officers arrested Johnson at the scene, but she was later de-arrested and interviewed at a police station, before the police decided to drop the case altogether.

TW: Distressing photo below

The decision provoked widespread public outrage, and more than  10,000 people signed a petition started by Antwon’s aunt, Antonia Forrest, urging the police to take further action.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees and deputy mayor Asher Craig also called for “a full understanding” of what happened to Antwon, and urged that “justice… must be done”.

Antwon Forrest was 12 when the incident happened – photo: Forrest family

A decision was subsequently made to review the case and the incident was reclassified as racially motivated.

At Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, Johnson was given a four-month sentence suspended for six months and was ordered to pay Antwon £500.

Avon & Somerset police have admitted that more care should have been taken with Antwon’s case and to his family, but have now ruled out race as a motivation behind the attack.

Chief inspector Mike Buck said: “We’re extremely grateful to Antwon and his family for meeting with us in person, so we could listen to their views and concerns, explain what action we were taking, and so we could offer our apologies for the outcome of the initial investigation and for the things we didn’t get right.

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Read more: Paddle attack on boy now thought to be racially motivated

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“This is an upsetting case of an assault on a young boy, which caused him actual bodily harm, and the weight of evidence gathered during the re-investigation has led to the defendant admitting the offence and being sentenced today.

“We recognise the strength of community concern following the initial outcome of this case and the perception that Antwon was treated differently because of his race.

“While we’ve found no evidence to suggest race played any part in the police decision to take no further action, we’ve listened deeply to the concerns and issues raised by the victim’s family and the wider community, and we’ll use the lessons from this investigation in the ongoing work we are doing under the National Race Action Plan – which is central to our mission to become an anti-racist organisation.

“A significant part of this plan will focus on improving our service to Black victims of crime, and we’re exploring whether we can establish a clear set of standards to improve our performance and positive outcomes, because research shows Black victims of crime often do not feel they receive the same level of service as others, which can lead to under-reporting and a lack of trust and confidence in the police.

“Improving the service we offer to Black victims of crime is crucial if we are to increase community confidence and ensure we’re delivering outstanding policing to all our communities, and this case will form a central thread to our work under the Race Action Plan.”

Main photo: Twitter

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