IN response to 'When a man's not a man' (Letters, April 6), I too witnessed an apparently unnecessary attack on a child.

Some weeks ago, my husband and I were shopping in Blackburn town centre in the middle of the Saturday rush hour. Outside the lift which leads up to Dixon's, we saw a man knock a boy in the chest and push him away from the lift.

The man was with a woman who had a baby in a pram and the boy and his friend looked about 13.

The man then came after the boy again, lifted him by the throat and thrust him against a wall. The boy was bright red and I thought the man was going to hit him.

No doubt the boys had attempted to get in the lift before the man, his woman and pram, and having been pushed away, the boy probably gave the man some verbal abuse. They might have even known each other.

We can only surmise what actually happened to provoke such an assault on a boy. Had the police been around, the man would have been arrested for assault.

We have all experienced abuse from children, but will they ever learn how to behave appropriately if adults set such an example?

We cannot deal with situations by physical force. This particular man appeared to be naturally aggressive and was obviously not deterred by the crowd of onlookers.

The saddest thing about the whole incident was that it happened before a crowd of shoppers and nobody, including myself, chose to intervene.

In fact, nobody appeared to be shocked. I went away feeling very upset and wondering what kind of community my own children are growing up in.

Name and address received

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