The distraught mother of a 14-year-old Briton, who was severely beaten up by a group of teenagers for his iPod, said the government had made the worst mistake by "taking away the rights of parents to chastise their children".

Tyler Molloy was viciously assaulted by the gang after they stole his iPod. Molloy went into coma for two days and will not be fit enough to return to school until September, Daily Mail reported Monday.