The parents of a group of Maltese teens who were assaulted in a busy main street in Valletta last night have warned of the dangers their children faced from random aggressors.

“It’s terrifying – we are living in country where children can’t go out anywhere,” one mother told Lovin Malta as the entire group tries to make sense of what happened to them last night. 

At least one teenage boy was left with a grievous injury to the leg and has already undergone surgery and others needed to be seen by medics at a nearby polyclinic after a roaming group of thugs targeted and assaulted this group of teenagers.

The victims, who form part of a Scouts group, were out in Valletta near Is-Suq tal-Belt to have a bite to eat and grab an ice cream afterwards. The group consisted of 13 teens, aged between 14 and 17, with nine of them female and four of them male.

It was when the four boys left the rest of the group to walk towards Castille and go home that another group began following them, taunting and heckling them and allegedly asking them to spell out the letters of the alphabet.

All of a sudden, the boys were “jumped” by this group.

“One was assaulted and kicked in the head, another boy who had the fractures was bleeding and couldn’t get up,” recounted one mother. “The other two boys managed to escape.”

One boy was repeatedly kicked in the head and ribs while on the floor trying to defend himself. The other boy has undergone surgery this morning following the injuries he was dealt.

Medics were called to the scene, with police telling Lovin Malta the attack occurred around 10pm last night in Merchant’s Street.

Police investigations are underway – but the parents are shocked that their children were unable to go out to the capital city on a Saturday night for a quiet meal without being hurt and targeted.

“In my eyes. Valletta should be safe for teenagers to go out eating for a couple of hours and then get picked up and go home,” one mother said. “They weren’t drinking or doing anything, and some parents were nearby and on site… but we are all shocked at what happened now.”

With parents lamenting how one boy will now be left with a scar on his leg for life due to the attack, the feeling is clear: “I can’t let my daughter or son go out… who knows who is going to attack them next.”

They urged Maltese authorities to “make sure the criminals are incriminated” and that the victims “aren’t further victimised”.

And more than anything, they truly hope police will be able to identify and prosecute the attackers for the damage and injuries they senselessly caused.