Gang Attacks Teenager With Python in England

A teenager required hospital treatment after being attacked by a gang brandishing a snake. In what police suspect may have been a racist assault, the 14-year-old boy was held down by his attackers in Bristol before one of the group forced a python to sink its fangs into him, leaving him with two deep puncture wounds.

The boy is believed to be of Afro-Caribbean descent. Two other boys aged 16 and 17 were being interviewed by police yesterday about the incident. Paramedics identified the type of snake after showing internet pictures to the victim on a mobile phone.

A spokesman for Great Western Ambulance service said: “Ambulance staff consulted Google and Bristol Zoo experts after a teenager was attacked by a group of youths brandishing a snake.

“The 14-year-old was bitten on the hand after being pinned against a wall by his attackers in Bradley Stoke on Saturday afternoon. Michael Howells, an incident support officer, added: “In order to try and identify the type of snake, I googled ‘snakes’ on my mobile to show the patient. He was reasonably sure he could identify the type, so I sent the image to our control room.”

Oliver Tovey, the duty control manager, said that a snake expert at Bristol Zoo had told him that the description of the snake indicated it was a type of python, and so not venomous.

"Gang held down boy, 14, while they forced snake to bite him", Times Online, 8/10/09.