Three young girls who were corralled into a town centre park by a gang of youths and attacked have finally got justice – 16 months later.

The youngsters – two were aged 12 and one 13 – were visiting Maidstone for the first time and had just been to McDonald's in Week Street when the attack happened in October 2021.

They were surrounded by a gang of around 25 boys and girls, aged around 13 to 16, who shepherded them into nearby Brenchley Gardens.

About half a dozen members of the gang then began tormenting and swearing at the girls. They had silver nitrous oxide cannisters thrown at their faces, were hit over the head with protective sponge tubing taken from nearby scaffolding poles, and finally the youngest girl was pushed over, breaking her wrist as she fell.

The attack stopped because of the intervention of a passer-by, which gave the girls the chance to flee to the sanctuary of a nearby shop, where they were protected by staff until their parents arrived.

Only one of their attackers was identified, a boy aged 13 at the time, who is now 14.

He initially pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled at him, but on Wednesday, he admitted his guilt and accepted a caution on two charges of common assault and on one charge of causing grievous bodily harm without intent.

He was also given a conditional discharge for six months for an offence of criminal damage – he had snatched one of the girl's caps and spat in it – and was ordered to pay her £15 compensation.

For legal reasons, he cannot be identified.

Following the conclusion of the case, the mother of the oldest girl gave her reaction.

She said: "Naturally we are all very relieved it is all over.

"This originally went to court in September last year, where he denied everything, and his lawyer asked for a two-day trial date to be set."

She said: "The earliest available court time was this week, five months later.

"On the first day, Tuesday, nothing happened. We sat in a waiting room all day and were not even called to court.

"Then I was told by the prosecutor that his defence was seeking another adjournment, saying they hadn't been provided with all the CCTV evidence.

"I kicked up a fuss and argued that at least the girls should be allowed to give their evidence, so that they didn't have to keep coming back to court.

"It's been a tremendous worry for them and they needed to put this behind them and get on with their GCSE studies."

'At least now he has admitted his guilt'

The girls and their parents returned to court on Wednesday, but before they were called to give evidence, they were told the defence and prosecution had agreed the offender would accept a caution.

The mum said: "It doesn't seem like much of a penalty. The girl who had her wrist broken had extensive surgery with six metal wires inserted. She is still suffering now.

"On the other hand, he is under age himself, so we never really expected he would get a big sentence."

But she said: "At least he has now admitted his guilt and will have a criminal record.

"Why he couldn't have done that right at the beginning and spared the girls 16 months' worry and the court a lot of expense, I don't know."

She said: "We felt his defence lawyer was just trying to constantly delay things, in the hope that we would think 'this isn't worth it' and give up. But we weren't going to give up.

"It's taken a long time, but the judicial process has worked in the end, and I must say the support we received from the volunteers of the witness service was absolutely magnificent."

None of the girls were from Maidstone, but the mother, who lives a few miles from Sevenoaks, said: "We've since been told all sorts of terrible things about the town and about Brenchley Gardens in particular.

"The police told us the gang probably took the girls there because they knew it was not covered by CCTV.

"If nothing else, perhaps our case will encourage the council to do more to make the area safe."

At the end of January, Maidstone council installed gates at the park which has enabled it to be closed at night in a bid to stop anti-social behaviour there.

They would have not have stopped the assault which happened at 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon.

Cllr Dave Naghi (Lib Dem) said: "The only solution will be a proper police presence. Brenchley Gardens are notorious. Once you get beyond Union Street it feels as though you are entering a lawless part of town."

Maidstone council leader Cllr David Burton has also spoken of the "darkness lurking in certain parts of Maidstone" and the need to reclaim such areas for the ordinary public.

In June, Hamdi Braiek was jailed after attacking shop owner Mukhtar Hussain in the park by stamping on his head and leaving him brain damaged.

The council is shortly to submit a planning application to itself to turn the disused toilet block in the park into a police hub, to house police officers and youth workers.

A spokesman said: “This is part of work being carried out to change the reputation of the park.

“The proposed re-purposing of the building will provide a visible presence and potential safe haven as it will be used by town centre-based police officers, youth workers and other professionals.

“Ultimately the council wants to increase the guardianship in the park which remains popular with young people, but also with families and workers in the town."

In the meantime, the mother of the young victim said: "I'm spreading the word to all our friends, don't go to Maidstone, it's not safe."