A TEENAGE boy was left badly beaten in a case of mistaken identity, his dad has claimed.

Yesterday, the Echo reported how a mass brawl broke out at the funfair in Chalkwell Park on Saturday evening.

Now, one of the victim’s fathers has come forward to share his 15-year-old son’s horrific ordeal in a bid to bring those responsible to justice. His son suffered a broken nose, two black eyes and a fractured cheek bone.

The father, who will remain anonymous, said: “My son was heading to the fair with three or four of his friends - they are good lads, straight A students. Yet for some reason when he walked past the fair, a group of about 30 grown men started shouting at him, thinking he was someone else.

“They grabbed him and dragged him into a compound where they started punching and kicking him. One of them drop-kicked him to the head.”

Members of the nearby cricket club heard the commotion and rushed to help the young Belfairs Academy student.

One member, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The main reason we went to help was because if it was my son, no matter what he had done, I would want someone to help. He had blood everywhere - we went over and got them away and that’s when a security guard from the fair started threatening us so we moved away until police came.”

The cricketer said it’s believed the attackers felt the teenager had taken something from them.

He added: “Having spent two hours with this kid, he was well-spoken and well-dressed. There’s no way he had gone to a fair on a Saturday evening to steal something. It just seemed like an excuse to justify their disgusting behaviour.”

His father added: “This went far beyond a bit of fighting. My son was dragged into a gang of grown men and was taken apart because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Something needs to be done and I strongly believe this fair should not come back.”

Martin Terry, councillor for community safety, said: “We have not received any formal complaints regarding this incident, however we are disappointed to hear of it. Any lessons learnt from this year’s fair will be considered if and when an application is made for next year’s event by the Safety Advisory Group, made up of members of the emergency services and the council.” Anyone with information should contact Essex Police on 101 quoting reference 42/132362/19