Bashed boy Quinn Lahiff-Jenkins stronger after attack, says mum

The mother of an autistic boy allegedly viciously bashed outside a Melbourne school says her son is recovering from the ordeal.

Quinn Lahiff-Jenkins, front, with his family. Picture: Stuart McEvoy.

The mother of an autistic boy ­viciously bashed outside a Melbourne high school said her son had come out stronger than ever from his ordeal, as one teenager was charged over the attack yesterday.

A boy, 15, was charged with ­affray, recklessly causing injury and intentionally causing injury.

He has been bailed to appear at a Children’s Court and the investigation is ongoing, police say.

Quinn Lahiff-Jenkins was ­bashed, allegedly by a group of teenage boys outside a school in Melbourne’s north on Tuesday with metal wrenches after confronting them about bullying his friend.

The victim’s mother, Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins, said she was worried about her son’s mental health after the incident but has been surprised about how philosophical he has been about the ­assault.

“He’s compartmentalised it. Of course, I’m worried about his mental health ... but he’s been quite philosophical about it, he’s very justice-driven,” she said.

“He thinks he did the right thing by telling these boys to stop bullying his friend.”

Quinn had confronted the boys who had been bullying his friend on social media. They invited him to the school where they allegedly proceeded to pin him to the ground, kick him in the head and hit him with wrenches.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the attack on Quinn was a “terrible incident”.

“As I understand it the school has taken this matter very seriously, as they should,” he said.

Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told ABC Radio Melbourne that he had watched the video and found it disgusting.

“As bad as this incident was, as difficult as it is to comprehend, it’s one of a very small number of incidents that we see across our schools,” he said.

“I watched that myself and (it’s) really just disgusting behaviour against this young fella.”

Ms Lahiff-Jenkins told The Australian she wanted to see the boys charged but she also felt ­concerned for them.

“I do feel concerned about these boys ... we need to understand why young people would do something like this,” she said.

“And I feel very concerned about their parents. I can’t imagine what they are going through.”

Ms Lahiff-Jenkins and her son want the alleged assault to shine a light on bullying. She is talking with community advocates and plans to co-host a community meeting about bullying.

“Some people think this is just schoolyard bullying ... I just can’t accept that,” Ms Lahiff-Jenkins said. “We let our kids act like this, absorb this over-macho culture. It will be the harbinger of our doom.”

The mother and son also want Australians to talk more about how autistic people are treated. Ms Lahiff-Jenkins fears that acceptance of people with autism is going backwards.

“Autistic people are the third-biggest minority group in the world ... the community has to start accepting them in their schools and workplaces,” she said.

“There is a very long way to go when it comes to acceptance. I fear it’s going backwards.”

Fiona Sharkie, chief executive of autism peak body Amaze, said there needed to be more education in schools around autism.

“From the principal to the students to the parents to the tuck shop ladies, we need people to understand the challenges autistic kids face but also their great potential,” she said.

I CAN Network founder Chris Varney, who has autism, has reached out to the Lahiff-Jenkins family. He said schools should ­invite more autistic people into schools. “Autism is just a processing difference ... by getting autistics to speak at assemblies and classrooms, we’ll create a better public understanding.”