Preston child was choked to the point of unconsciousness in house as attack was filmed on mobile phone

The youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was heard by neighbours pleading for help.

Preston's Session House Court heard two residents who were unloading shopping from their car, saw the child come out of the front door before telling them he had been "choked" and left unconscious.

The footage shows the other boys giggling as the boy was assaulted, before he went limp.

The distressed youngster told them: "They put me to sleep."

Callum Christopher John Dickson, 18, formerly of Cardigan Street, Ashton-On-Ribble, Preston, but now of Parkinson Street, Bolton, admitted causing actual bodily harm on the basis he began assaulting him in the hall at the bottom of the stairs and didn't realise he was unconscious until he let go of him.

The court heard he was 16 at the time of the attack.

Prosecuting, Colette Renton said: He was known to the defendant.

"He went to the defendant's home for a social visit. He had been at the defendant's home for about 30 mins when the co defendant turned up.

"The defendant had been fine towards him before but he changed his demeanour at some point."

The court was told the boy went upstairs and ran a bath, but was followed by the group of other boys and a struggle broke out.

Dickson dragged him down the stairs and began to assault him, and when he kicked out to try and escape, Dickson pulled him to the front door and put his arm around his neck.

At 11pm on August 13, 2019, two neighbours were unloading shopping from their car when they heard screaming and shouting "help me" and "let go" .

they heard a smash against the front door before he emerged,

The couple took the boy back to their home while they waited for the police.

A 13-year-old co-defendant, who cannot be identified, was previously given a nine month youth referral and ordered to pay £100 compensation and another was acquitted after a trial.

Judge Simon Medland QC accepted the seriousness of what was going on was "perhaps less obvious" to people of that age than to an older person.

Imposing a three year community order with a rehabilitation requirement and curfew he said: "I might add the act f=of putting an arm around someone's neck is all to often the foundation of a murder trial because the vulnerability of the human body around the neck area is something which is terrifying to behold.

"It might have started as a playground bullying affair but ended by the door with a young person who is in some ways lucky to have his life - you can see him choking on the footage and going limp.

"The difference between what happened to him and him being dead is fractional.

"But I have to balance that with his youth, the delay and his culpability reflected by difficulties in his life."

He added: "You're getting on towards being an adult, in some ways you are already, and I could send you to a Youth Offender's Institution now, because what you did to that lad was terribly, terribly dangerous.

"You might have been sitting there facing a murder allegation. Do you understand that, how close you came to that?"

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