A MOTHER today hit out after a man who assaulted her son with a snooker cue was given a conditional discharge and said: "He should never have taken the law into his own hands."

The mother of the 15-year-old boy, who suffered a broken arm after being hit with the cue, slammed newsagent Peter Bretherton and criticised magistrates for not sending him to jail.

Bretherton, who owns Bretherton's Newsagents in Alder Drive, Hoghton, pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm earlier this week and was given a three-month conditional discharge by Chorley magistrates.

Bretherton claimed he had been plagued by a gang of youths, including the teenager, throwing stones at his window and lashed out when they wouldn't go away.

Magistrates said they were "greatly concerned" at the lack ofsupport Bretherton received after he called police to the incident and the newsagent has been backed by his MP Lindsay Hoyle.

But today the victim's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "My son has been made out to be a troublemaker who hangs round outside shops, when in fact he was the one who was attacked and had his arm broken.

"I am outraged at the court's decision. The system is obviously weighted in favour of criminals.

"My son is a hard working lad who has held down a part-time job for two years and has just taken 12 GCSEs.

"He's never been in trouble with the police before and was just walking past the shop and walking away when he was hit from behind with the snooker cue.

"He had to spend six weeks in plaster and missed his mock exams. Now he has no predicted grades and his future could be in tatters if he doesn't get the marks he needs to go to college.

"This has all been made out to be such a one-sided story.

"I do think there are problems with juveniles and there's trouble on the street, but what kind of message does it send out to kids when a man's committed a violent assault and walks free from court. "People can't go round taking matters into their own hands. This has destroyed our faith in the legal process and my son still bears the scars of the injury."

Peter Bretherton said the boy was definitely one of the gang throwing stones and that they had become such a problem in the area that more than 400 people had signed a petition to try to get rid of them.

He added: "I'm not saying this lad was one of the worst, but there's no way he was a complete innocent. I've seen him with this group of youths many times."