A Jewish boy who was walking home from school last week was forced to remove his skullcap by a gang of teenage bullies who threatened to beat him up.

According the Evening Standard, the 11-year-old boy was walking home from school in Hackney before being surrounded by a group of unfamiliar teenagers, both boys and girls. The teens threatened to beat him up if he did not take off his kippah (Jewish skullcap).

The boy was unharmed in the incident, but is said to have been “badly shaken” and was left in tears.

A spokesperson for Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch group in London, said, “He lives near where the incident took place and had his rucksack over his shoulders as he was walking home from school.

“The child said he tried to run away but the youths blocked his way.”