Girl, 13, dragged unconscious through Scots park after horrific gang attack (2025)

Hope Lyden, 13, was brutally beaten by a gang of girls after she agreed to meet a friend at Boden Boo in Erskine at the weekend.

The mum of a schoolgirl who was filmed being dragged through a park by her hair after being battered unconscious by a gang of feral teens has spoken out over a youth violence epidemic in Scotland.

Hope Lyden, 13, was brutally beaten by a group of girls after she agreed to meet a friend at Boden Boo in Erskine at the weekend. The teen had been standing in a bus stop talking to her pal before she was approached by a girl who was not known to her on Friday night.

The girl then accused Hope of speaking about her before another unknown teen approached her, promising to help her "get away" after a spat broke out. But as they reached a nearby field, Hope suffered a sudden blow to the back of her head - leaving her unconscious.

Horrific footage, which has since gone viral on social media, shows three girls raining punches and kicks on Hope as she lay helpless on the ground. Dozens of onlookers could be heard laughing at the sickening scene as they stood filming the incident on their phones.

In another disturbing clip, attackers were filmed dragging Hope's limp body through the grass by her hair. It is understood that at this point, Hope was unconscious.

Hope's mum, Katrina, has shared the horrifying details of her daughter's attack as part of the Record's youth violence campaign, Our Kids ... Our Future.

Katrina, 37, from Clydebank, told the Record: "Hope phoned me and all I could hear was her screaming. She was frantic. It was horrific. I could hear the kicks and thuds.

"She screamed again, but then there was nothing else from her. I could hear loads of girls' voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. I eventually managed to get to speak to one of Hope's friends who told me there was a group of girls laying into her and that she looked unconscious.

"Thinking about it now makes me feel physically sick."

Katrina got in her car and drove to the beauty spot straight away. When she arrived, she found Hope lying in a heap on the ground with her clothes ripped and clumps of her hair pulled from her skull.

The mum-of-two said: "She had her eyes open but mentally, she was somewhere else. She looked traumatised and just absolutely stunned.

"At first, after seeing her like that, I was furious but now I am utterly devastated that somebody could do this to her and just leave her like that.

"It is every mother's worst nightmare."

Hope was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow where she was treated for concussion, a suspected broken nose and a burst mouth. The horrifying incident has since been reported to Police Scotland, who confirmed an investigation has been launched.

Katrina said: "This attack was completely senseless. In the video, you can see that Hope was already unconscious when they were dragging her body through the field.

"They were using her head as a football and for all they know, she could have been dead. They laid into her and she was absolutely helpless.

"This level of violence is terrifying and the fact nobody jumped in to stop it is sickening."

Katrina is now backing the Record's Our Kids ... Our Future campaign, which was launched two years ago after we reported on a concerning series of attacks on teens across the country. As part of the campaign, we have repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to ring-fence funding for safe spaces for youths to attend in every community, where they can be mentored and guided.

In addition, we have demanded social media giants to remove violent clips of attacks on youths before they go viral. Katrina believes Hope's assault could have been prevented if her attackers had safe spaces to go to

She said: "Kids do need places to go to. There's nothing for them and these attacks are getting out of hand. Hope had never met these girls before and maybe if they had somewhere to go where they were taught the consequences of violence this attack on my daughter might have not happened.

"If we teach kids more positive behaviour and mentor them, then we might be able to teens like Hope, or any other child,from being battered black and blue.

"The Scottish Government needs to invest in things like youth clubs if it wants to get kids off the streets and end this violence once and for all."

Community campaigner Alex O'Kane said he was left "sickened" after being sent the videos of Hope's attack as he urged the Government to urgently address the culture of youth violence in Scotland.

He said: "This video really sickened me as the continued and repeated brutality after this young girl was clearly motionless and unconscious was beyond sickening. I think the question really is how many more kids need to be brutally attacked like this before real action is taken to stop this culture of youth violence.

"The evidence of youth violence is there in abundance. I've never seen such a level of compelling and undeniable evidence. The Government misguided go soft on youth crime is sending out the wrong message to our younger generation.

"Yet, those in positions of power and policy making seem to have their heads buried in pages of flawed statistics based on reported crimes and questionable surveys which don't reflect the reality on the ground. The Government misguided go soft on youth crime is sending out the wrong message to our younger generation."

On Monday evening, Police Scotland confirmed that two young girls have now been charged in connection with the incident.

A statement from them said: "Officers were made aware of the assault of a 13-year-old girl which happened around 6pm on Friday, 11 April, 2025, in the Boden Boo area of Erskine.

“She was taken to hospital for treatment. Two girls, aged 12 and 13, have been charged in connection with the incident and will be reported to the relevant authority.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “No one should have to experience the sickening violent acts captured in this footage and our thoughts should rightly be with the victim and her recovery. We continue to take action with partners to address youth violence. We have invested more than £6 million to support implementation of the Violence Prevention Framework, to deliver prevention and early intervention.

"Through our Cashback for Communities initiative, we have also provided £130 million to support young people who are most at risk at being involved in violence, antisocial behaviour or crime. Last month a youth violence social media campaign was launched by our grant-funded partner Fearless, encouraging young people to speak up and report violence and weapon possession to prevent harm before it happens.”