WHEN a Bradford woman and her son – who was just 11 at the time – experienced a torrent of racial abuse on a train in April 2018, they were left shaken and upset.

Vie Clerc and her son, who wanted to remain anonymous for this article, were on a train from Leeds to their hometown of Bingley, when four men sat next to them and directed a racial slur – namely the ‘P-word’ – towards her son, who is half Congolese.

They also told Vie, who is a white French woman, that she should go back to her own country.

Vie, who first settled in London 23 years ago before moving to Bradford in 2005, was also physically assaulted when one of the men grabbed her hair during the incident.

Five years on, their ordeal – which has left Vie’s son, now 16, still scared of using trains –  has inspired a novel by a local author.

Linda Green, who is a friend of Vie’s, told the story in her book In Little Stars.

READ MORE: The story of Vie Clerc and her son inspires Linda Green novel

“I hope the novel can help stories like this reach a wider audience and touch people,” said Vie, who is a community campaigner in Bradford.

“I think the novel can help people to reflect and, as Linda said, show people that we all have more in common than we think.”

Only one person intervened on Vie and her son’s behalf during the incident – a young woman in her early 20s, who sat in between the mother and son and the abusive men, and tried to distract her son from what was happening.

“The train was packed, but nobody said anything, until this young woman came and put herself in a tough position,” Vie said.

“The men then started taking things out on her, making sexualised comments.

“They also made nasty comments to a Muslim woman on the train.

“It was scary. It also made me feel like a failure as a mother, as I wish I could have done more to protect my son.

“My son’s sense of belonging was shattered. Growing up, you’re trying to find yourself. He’s half French, half Congolese and born in the UK, so his identity was already hard to navigate. Then on top of that, you had people telling him you don’t belong here.

“It still affects him today. He only went back on a train for the first time six months ago, and he’ll only go on one if his friends are with him.

“I wish I could have just waved a magic wand to make him feel better.”

Vie’s son still goes to school in Bingley, but the incident contributed to the family moving out of the area.

“We later found out that the people who abused us were also from Bingley. We didn’t feel safe there at that time, because of that,” Vie said.

Vie argued that, since Brexit, racism has become more apparent.

“It’s always been there, but many people have felt the green light to go ahead with racism more since Brexit,” she claimed.

“I’m a dual citizen of France and Britain, and my kids were born in this country – but this type of behaviour makes us feel less British.

“Sadly, people in power and the media do create division between communities at times. We should focus on working together, rather than putting people against each other.”

Vie added that she was unhappy with how the police handled the case at first.

“They said they would come and take a statement, but they kept dragging their feet,” she said.

“I went to national newspapers, and within an hour of an article going out, they finally came to my house to take a statement.”

Five months after the incident, a 56-year-old man was convicted of a racially aggravated assault and a racially aggravated public order offence.

He was sentenced to a 200-hour community order and made to pay compensation to Vie and her son.

The Telegraph & Argus approached the British Transport Police for comment.

A spokesperson responded: “Preventing and tackling hate crime is an absolute priority for us – no one should be subjected to harassment because of who they are, and we take every report seriously.

“As soon as we were made aware of this abhorrent incident, we launched a full investigation which including requesting CCTV from the train operating company, launching a public media appeal and gathering independent witness statements.

“As a result of these enquiries, a 56-year-old man was identified, charged, and convicted at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court on September 4, 2018.

“He was found guilty of a racially aggravated assault and a racially aggravated public order offence and sentenced to a 200-hour community order, as well as being ordered to pay compensation to the victim.

“Officers were in touch with the victim throughout the investigation to offer updates and support, as well as through the subsequent court process.

“We would always encourage anyone that is a victim of, or a witness to, a hate crime to report it to us by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40.”