UPDATE: |Snapchat used to ‘hunt’ girl, 13, before teens launched sickening attack News

Sofia Todd’s was the victim of a horrifying attack that went viral on social media

Feral teenagers used Snapchat to “hunt” their schoolgirl victim before she was savagely attacked in a restaurant, leaving customers horrified.

Sofia Todd, 13, was enjoying a meal with friends at Black Rooster in Paisley, Scotland, when she was set upon by a group of girls earlier this week. The vicious attackers had used the location feature on Snapchat to track her after launching a relentless campaign of online abuse against her.

Despite Sofia’s efforts to block the girls on the app, they managed to track her down using a different account to pinpoint her whereabouts. She was then attacked by two of the girls while a third recorded the sickening assault on her phone.

The disturbing video, which has since gone viral across social media platforms, captures the moment Sofia is yanked from her seat by her hair and thrown to the ground. She then receives a number of blows to her head and body as a terrified member of staff attempts to pull the frenzied culprits away from her.

Although Sofia briefly gets back on her feet, she is swiftly knocked down again, where the assault continues with repeated kicks to her head. The footage painfully shows Sofia seated on the floor enduring continuous kicks to her skull from both of her attackers, reports the Daily Record.

The harrowing details of this atrocious attack have been shared with the Daily Record as part of its youth violence campaign, Our Kids … Our Future.

Sofia’s mum, Eleonora Paluzzi, 35, from Johnstone, told the Record: “Sofia has been tormented by these bullies for months. It got to the point where I had to pull her out of school because it was just too much.

“She blocked them all on Snapchat, yet they still managed to hunt her down. The fact they used the app to pin her down is sinister and terrifying.

“She had only just started to get her confidence back after she was cruelly tormented by them, it’s sickening.”

Sofia suffered a burst lip, sprained ankle and has since been left covered in bruises. By the time her mum reached her at the restaurant, staff had already dialled an ambulance for her.

She was rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, where she was found to be concussed. Police confirmed two female youths, aged 14 and 15, have since been reported to authorities.

Eleonora said: “There had actually been police patrolling the area at the time of the attack. They went into the restaurants but the two girls fled.

“Sofia has been left traumatised by this. It was bad enough with the bullying alone, but this has taken it to a whole new level.”

Eleonora has backed the Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign, which was launched two years ago the Daily Record reported on a spate of attacks on teens across the country. As part of the campaign, the Record has demanded social media giants to introduce specific measures to safeguard children online and prevent violent clips of youths from going viral.

They have also called on the Scottish Government to get kids off the streets by investing in youth clubs, programmes and activities.

Eleonora said: “These bullies hunted my daughter down despite her taking every measure to stop them from contacting her and ultimately attacking her. I know that her video has also been shared widely on the app.

“Snapchat and other platforms are only facilitating and glorifying violence by allowing this to happen. It also should have better regulations around sharing the locations of young users.

“I stand with everything Our Kids … Our Future calls for. These platforms can’t be allowed to get away with it any more, they’re putting our childrens’ lives in danger.

“Youth violence is getting out of hand – these attacks are only becoming more frequent and worse. Where do kids have to go? Our local youth club recently got shut down so they’re left to roam the streets.

“They’re getting bored so they’re resorting to alcohol and violence. They have no safe space to go to, so they’re being left to their own devices.”

The mum also called on a clear set of consequences for acts of extreme violence.

She added: “There needs to be tougher consequences for violence like this. If these girls were adults, they’d never get away with it.”

Local MSP Jamie Greene described the incident as “shocking” and called for tech giants to face more taxes in order to better fund youth mental health services.

The Liberal Democrat representative said: “This is a shocking video. The Record’s Our Kids, Our Future campaign is doing essential work in keeping this issue on the political agenda, forcing the government to confront the rising tide of violence affecting our young people and the service cuts which have chipped away at areas like youth work.

“One option would be to increase the Digital Services Tax levied on the social media giants to pay for services like mental health support for kids who have been badly affected. No young person should have to go through what Sofia has done.”

Labour MSP Katy Clark added: “The Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign rightly highlights that no child should fear violent attacks from bullies when they leave their homes. Social media companies have to start taking cases like this seriously and put measures in place to halt the publication of violent videos on their sites and ban those who do upload these videos.”

A Snapchat spokesperson said: “We strictly prohibit the glorification of violent behaviour on Snapchat. If we become aware of this content, we remove it and take appropriate action. On Snap Map, location sharing is off by default for all Snapchatters. Users must opt in to share their location, and they are unable to share their location with anyone who is not already their friend. If a user blocks another user, the blocked user can’t view the other’s location on the Snap Map.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We are very sorry to hear about any violent incident that has taken place. We continue to take action with partners to address youth violence.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7.30pm on Wednesday, 16 April, 2025 we received a report of an assault on a 13-year-old female youth in the High Street area of Paisley. She was taken to Royal Alexandra Hospital for treatment.

“Inquiries were carried out and two female youths, one aged 14 and one aged 15, have been reported to the relevant authority.”

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