A DISTRAUGHT mother today slammed a gang of youths who threw her 10-year-old daughter into the canal and claimed: "She could have drowned."

Mrs Sharon Coupe said her daughter, also Sharon, was pushed into the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Mill Hill, Blackburn.

The 10-year-old - who only learned to swim last year - was trapped in the water for 20 minutes and had to swim about 300 yards to safety.

Sharon was walking a neighbour's dog near her home in St Aidan's Avenue, Mill Hill, at about 6.30pm yesterday when a group of about eight teenagers started to follow her.

She said: "They started picking up their pace so I picked up mine. They were teasing the dog with sticks.

"I started running and they cornered me at the canal edge, near to the Water's Edge pub. One of them kicked me and pushed me and the dog in. The water was cold and disgusting." Sharon struggled to get out but could not pull herself onto the path. The youths ran away.

Benjy led her to the nearest locks - at least 300 yards away - to get out of the water.

Sharon said: "We had to keep stopping because Benjy and I were both getting tired."

Mrs Coupe said: "She was so cold when she got in she was purple. She only learned to swim last year and if she had got cramp she would have drowned.

"There are lots of little kids around here and I dread to think what might have happened if they had pushed one of them in."

Inspector Andrew Pratt, of Blackburn Police, said: "It was a horrific incident. She has been picked on through no fault of her own."

"Fortunately Sharon was not injured, apart from being shaken up and in a state of shock. We are following up various lines of inquiry."

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