Child gang hangs boy from tree

A gang of children as young as seven put a rope around a boy's neck and strung him up from a tree, the victim's mother said today.

Bradley McLachlan, seven, was left dangling inches off the ground in a Portsmouth Park after the three attackers reportedly ran off laughing.

He was able to hoist his body upwards before being rescued by an older boy who walked by.

His mother Charleen, 30, from Portsmouth, told The Mirror: "I feel sick and shocked someone could do this, not least other children.

"This wasn't just a game that went wrong, it's far more serious. I can't get my head around it.

"There were marks under his chin and they went right up around the back of his head. The police said he could have died if he hadn't been so small and light."

Bradley needed hospital treatment for severe rope burns to his neck after the incident, which happened last month but details of which have only just emerged.

Police are trying to trace the culprits.