Northern Ireland

'I feel police are doing nothing to help my son following concert attack'

Jason Tuite with his mother Kay
Jason Tuite with his mother Kay Jason Tuite with his mother Kay

THE mother of a teenage boy who was so badly beaten outside a Belfast concert that he needed metal plates inserted in his face has hit out at police over a lack of progress in the investigation.

Kay Tuite said she can't understand why detectives have not taken action after her 16-year-old son Jason identified one of his suspected attackers on social media.

Five months on from the assault, there have been no arrests.

The teenager suffered a catalogue of injuries including a broken nose, broken eye socket and shattered cheekbone when he was attacked on August 26 last year.

He had travelled from his home in Dundalk with his girlfriend for a Vital gig at Boucher Road playing fields featuring performances by DJ Tiesto and Clean Bandit.

As the pair were leaving at around midnight and looking for their bus home, Jason said he was set upon by a man who jumped off the steps of a bus and kicked him in the face.

Four others then joined in the attack, kicking and punching him to the ground.

Surgeons at St James’s Hospital in Dublin had to insert two metal plates in the teenager's face, one under his right eye and the other to the side of the eye.

Doctors had to go through the skull to carry out the procedure and the plates will remain in Jason’s face permanently.

There were fears initially that he would lose the sight in one eye as a result of the attack but doctors have since told him that he will not.

Speaking to The Irish News, Mrs Tuite said following the attack family members had been on social media when they discovered comments about Jason.

Jason Tuite (16), from Dundalk, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries when he was attacked outside a Vital gig on Boucher Road on August 26
Jason Tuite (16), from Dundalk, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries when he was attacked outside a Vital gig on Boucher Road on August 26 Jason Tuite (16), from Dundalk, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries when he was attacked outside a Vital gig on Boucher Road on August 26

On investigating further, they came across a photo of a group of men and he identified one of them as one of his suspected attackers.

One of the teenager's friends, who was with him at the Vital gig, also identified the same man.

However, Mrs Tuite claimed that when she alerted police it was dismissed.

"Police said that they couldn't question him because they hadn't enough evidence," she said.

"He told me I'd have to get a URL address for them because they weren't allowed to take stuff from Facebook, but he told me last week he got the URL but not enough evidence to question them.

"I thought they (would) go and pick him up and take him in for questioning."

Mrs Tuite said she felt like the attack on Jason had been "forgotten about".

"I feel there is nothing being done at all. They are no further ahead."

She added that her son is "still living with what happened to him".

"They could have killed Jason," she said.

"I'm not happy about it at all. He still has no feeling in the side of his face. That numbness in his jaw could last his lifetime."

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: "Detectives have been carrying out a thorough investigation and enquiries are ongoing. Police are happy to meet and speak with the family at any time."

Jason Tuite (16), from Dundalk, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries when he was attacked outside a Vital gig on Boucher Road on August 26
Jason Tuite (16), from Dundalk, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries when he was attacked outside a Vital gig on Boucher Road on August 26 Jason Tuite (16), from Dundalk, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries when he was attacked outside a Vital gig on Boucher Road on August 26