Woman jailed for egging on teens who beat up Black girl outside school with hair rip, punches and headlock

A Surrey woman who egged on a schoolgirl as she punched and ripped out a Black girl's hair has been jailed. Winnie Connors, 40, from Stanwell, was jailed for 20 months at Guildford Crown Court on Monday (May 13), after she admitted encouraging the sickening assault at the gates of Thomas Knyvett School in Ashford, during the early afternoon of February 6, 2023.

The beating went viral after it was recorded and posted on social media, leading to protests at the gates and calls from MPs for an enquiry into the school's response. At the time, it was suspected the attack may have been racially motivated, leading to arrests for racially aggravated assault, but as proceedings ended this week, no person had been convicted of a racially aggravated offence.

The main defendant, a 16-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing in October 2023. Two weeks before the assault, the defendant's sister had been in a verbal spat with one of the victim's friends, which escalated when the victim stepped in to protect her friend.

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Two days later at around 2:15pm, the victim was leaving school when she noticed the defendant with Connors walking towards her. The defendant grabbed the victim's hair with both hands and ripped a section off the front of her head, then dragged her to the floor as she tried to fight back with hair grabs and punches.

Connors and two younger girls, along with the defendant's friend, could also be heard encouraging the defendant during the beating. None of the children can be named due to legal reasons. The attack lasted around two minutes and was captured in video that was plastered across social media.

Police were called to the scene by the head teacher, who reported the victim had been repeatedly punched and was in a headlock. Surrey Police officers arrested five people at the scene on suspicion of attempted racially aggravated grievous bodily harm, including a 40-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, two 11-year-old girls and a 43-year-old man.

The main defendant and the 17-year-old girl both admitted ABH for the same incident, however the 17-year-old also admitted an assault by beating on a 15-year-old friend of the victim. Both girls were given a 12-month Youth Offender Panel referral order and were told to pay £30 in compensation. No further action was taken against the man or the two 11-year-old girls.

'Widespread shock and outrage'

North Surrey Detective Superintendent Tim Shaw said: “This attack was extremely concerning and upsetting for the victims, their friends and family, as well as for the wider community. In this instance, the entire assault was captured on video and the footage was widely circulated on social media. The violence in the video generated widespread shock and outrage, including a protest outside the school two days after the incident.

“Ensuring that those involved in this attack were held accountable for the part they played on the day has been a long, complex and painstaking process but we have remained committed to seeing this through.

“A significant number of officers and staff were involved with both the investigation and ongoing engagement with the local community. Those officers and staff found the case as distressing as the public did but despite this, worked tirelessly to build a case to present to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to deliver justice for both victims.”

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