Paperboy is innocent victim of a
vigilante
Shocking ... Dominic Scullion was left with a broken jaw after attack
A BATTERED paperboy told last night how a vigilante spat in his face without warning before smashing his jaw apart in a savage street assault.
Defenceless Dominic Scullion was on his round when Paul Caulfield, 41, suddenly attacked him over claims the 16-year-old had raped a schoolgirl.
The crazed brute floored Dominic with a single punch and repeatedly beat him about the head as he lay unconscious on the ground.
Caulfield was later jailed for eight months, while Dominic — who has always protested his own innocence — was never charged over the sex attack allegations.
Reliving his ordeal, the schoolboy said: “I was walking away from a house after delivering a paper and had my headphones on listening to music.
“I got a tap on my back and thought it was one of my friends. I turned round and it was a middle-aged guy. He spat in my face.
“Next thing I remember is opening my eyes and thinking I’d had a dream. I was confused and wondered where I was.”
Frantic pals had raced to Dominic’s home in Erskine, Renfrewshire, to tell his family he had been injured.
His shocked relatives thought he had been mown down by a CAR when they saw him lying blood-soaked at the side of the road.
Nightmare ... Dominic Scullion is still haunted by battering
Dominic, now 17, added: “I opened my eyes and saw my dad. He told me it would be OK. Then I blacked out again.”
Witnesses claimed they begged Caulfield to stop as he laid into the teenager.
A source close to the family revealed: “An elderly couple said they saw this guy walking down and tapping Dominic on the shoulder. He turned and the guy spat in his face, then punched him.
“He then continuously attacked him while he was unconscious. He was shouting about the rape allegations. The old man was blasting his horn and people came outside, so the guy eventually stopped.”
Dominic was rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in Paisley, for surgery.
He said: “My jaw was broken in three places. The bit between my nose and my mouth was also split and needing stitches.
“I needed surgery to have three titanium strips inserted in my jaw — and I was on a liquid diet for six weeks.”
Cops swooped on Caulfield shortly after the horror beating.
He was caged last week but is now understood to be appealing his eight-month sentence. Caulfield had appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court to admit repeatedly punching the schoolboy on the head and assaulting him to his severe injury in June.
Dominic said: “I am frightened to go out now. I’m always looking over my shoulder.
“My attacker is in prison but I am still scared of what other people might do.
“I feel like it’s turned my life upside down. It’s going to take me a long time to get over it.”
Dominic’s nightmare began in March when the 15-year-old girl accused him of raping her on a busy walkway close to a community farm. The teenager was quizzed by cops and gave a DNA sample before being released pending further inquiries.
He insists he is innocent, claiming the girl had a crush on him and that he knocked back her invitations to meet.
Caulfield struck three months after the rape claims emerged.
And Dominic revealed his life has been torn apart, despite receiving a letter from prosecutors telling him he faced no charges.
He said: “I was scared in case people thought the girl was telling the truth — but I didn’t do anything wrong. I think this has all been to do with me rejecting her. I couldn’t focus on my exams. I’m still finding school hard and I’m getting counselling.
“I hope when people hear my name they don’t think ‘He’s the guy who was accused of rape’.”
Last night, the mother of the 15-year-old girl said: “We have kept a dignified silence through this whole thing.
“My daughter has not dropped any charges and never will.”
Strathclyde Police last night confirmed there had been no charges over the rape allegations.