A group of Spanish schoolchildren on a exchange trip in Yorkshire were attacked by a gang of hooded and masked teenage thugs and forced to run for protection to a nearby school.

The terrified teenagers were hit with with bricks, stones and bottles.
A number of them needed hospital treatment for their injuries.

The group of exchange students were being led by two guides in their 20s.
Many of the group were hysterical, crying and vomiting in fear as they came under siege in Sheffield.

The Spanish children are  from wealthy and middle class families in Spain's capital Madrid. They had come to England to improve their English as part of a language exchange programme.

Sheffield City Council chief executive John Mothersole said he was outraged by the attack which happened in Queens Road, close to the city's Heritage Park Special School.

He said: "Sheffield is a welcoming city and will continue to be. These mindless actions are not representative of true Sheffielders. This is totally unacceptable behaviour and I'm really sorry these students received this treatment."

He added: "Apparently they were attacked by a gang wearing hoods who were throwing bricks and bottles at them. "Most of them were absolutely distraught about what had happened. They had clearly never experienced anything like this."

June Graham, a co-ordinator a the School of Languages which organised the trip said they "ran screaming into the school and were hysterical".

"They ran in seeking refuge. Some had cuts and bruises but many more were suffering from shock and were sick."

PC Wayne Jackson from South Yorkshire Police said the attackers were aged between 11 and 20, and added: "They were wearing casual clothes and some of them had their faces covered."

Background:

In the UK, hoodies have been the subject of much criticism; some shoplifters have used the hood to conceal their identities from CCTV cameras in shopping centres.
Particularly when worn with a baseball cap, the hoodie has become a trademark of "chavs".

The history of the specific garment began in the 1930s, but historical precedent dates the style and form of the hoodie back to the Middle Ages. The formal wear for Catholic monks included a cowl, a long, decorative hood worn in addition to the standard tunic or robes.

The modern clothing style was first produced by Champion in the 1930s for laborers in the frozen warehouses of New York.

Its popularity spread as sportswear designers such as Claire McCardell developed entire collections based around the clothing. College insignia (UCLA) on a hoodie College insignia (UCLA) on a hoodie.

The hoodie took off in the 1970s as several factors contributed to its success. Hip hop culture developed in New York City around this time, and the hoodie's element of instant anonymity, provided by the accessible hood, appealed to those with criminal intent.

High fashion also contributed during this era, as Norma Kamali and other high-profile designers embraced and glamorized the new clothing. Most critical to the hoodie's popularity during this time was its iconic appearance in the blockbuster Rocky film. His attire embodied the persevering spirit of the American Dream at the time, and simultaneously appealed to workingmen, street thugs, and athletes.

By the 1990s, the hoodie had evolved into a symbol of isolation, a statement of academic spirit, and several fashion collections.

The association with Chavs in the UK developed around this time, as their popularity rose with that specific demographic. Young men, often skateboarders or surfers, sported the hoodie and spread the trend across the western United States, most significantly in California.

The rise of hoodies with university logos began around this time. Tommy Hilfiger, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren, for example, used the hoodie as the primary component for many of their collections in the 1990s.