Internet Video Bully Claims He “Is Victim Too”

Added by Gary Dunn on March 21, 2011

A Sydney pupil who was caught on film bullying a fellow student, and was body-slammed for it, says he is a victim of bullies too.

The Year Seven student, Ritchard Gale, was in the now famous video seen throwing punches at Year Ten student Casey Heynes, who retorded by body-slamming Ritchard onto the concrete floor.

In his defence, Ritchard said he also used to get teased, and that it was actually Casey who started the fight: “He abused me first … he was like `get to class, you idiot’, all that sort of stuff,” Ritchard said.

While Ritchard, now nick-named “Ritchard the Rat” on some online forums, is not sorry for hitting Casey, his parents Peter and Tina Gale both think that it is not safe for him to return to Chifley College. “He is not going back there … it is not a safe place for him,” Mr Gale told reporters.

Casey, on the other hand, told media that he had been bullied since second grade, and that although the school previously had suspended one of his previous bullies, other students just come back and start teasing him again. As a result, he said he would not accept an apology from Ritchard, because “it’s just going to happen again”.