Scottish gran beaten black and blue by feral gang while sunbathing at beauty spot

A Scottish grandmother was beaten black and blue by a feral gang of youths as she sunbathed at a local beauty spot.

Melanie Cuthbertson, 52, had fallen asleep during her day out before waking up to a teenage boy stamping on her face in the sickening attack at Rotten Calder Waterfall in Blantyre.

According to Melanie, a group of around nine girls, along with the boy, launched the brutal and unprovoked attack after she had decided to stay and enjoy time to herself when her friends left to enjoy the warm weather.

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As the Record reports, Melanie had pitched a small tent by the water and was lying relaxing before waking up to the large group standing over her in the terrifying incident on Monday, June 24.

Melanie, from Hamilton, explained: “It’s a beautiful area and my favourite place to go for a swim so I just wanted to hang around and enjoy the sunshine.

“I noticed some youths earlier and some of them seemed drunk, but they were a distance away from me so I hadn’t really paid them any attention and we had no interaction whatsoever.

“I had pitched a little pop-up tent by the water and was lying on it relaxing when I suddenly opened my eyes and noticed some of this gang had congregated around me.”

Before she could react, they pounced on her and started to rain blows down on her head.

She continued: “The boy was wild-eyed and definitely the ring leader. They were all hitting me but he was directly over me and punching and stamping on my head.

“I was terrified. I was in fear for my life because I didn’t know when they were going to stop. I don’t remember too much else because I passed out and lost consciousness.”

When Melanie came to, two young girls were beside her asking her if she was okay. It is understood the pair contacted the emergency services. Since the incident, the gran has been left badly bruised and struggling to walk.

Melanie hopes the feral gang are caught, with police carrying out inquiries to trace those responsible.

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Melanie took up wild water swimming to help with her mental health and ease anxiety issues but says she has been left in a bad place since the incident earlier this week.

She added: “I was rushed to the hospital but thankfully my injuries were not too serious. It could have been much worse with the way they were stamping on my head.

“I have obviously been badly bruised on my face and my legs and ribs are very tender. I am still unstable on my feet three days later.

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“I just really want to make sure these people are caught. Rotten Calder is such a nice place and normally you see elderly people walking their dogs and mums with their children.

“What happens if they decide to attack someone like that next?”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 6.30pm on Monday, 24 June, we received a report of an assault on a woman at Calderfalls, Blantyre. The 52-year-old woman was taken to Hairmyers Hospital for treatment.