Two children have been left bloodied and with broken bones after a terrifying ordeal in which they were hunted by a car full of teens.
The boys were riding their scooters before dinner when the gang spotted them, beginning five minutes of torment that left both with serious injuries.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Boys hunted down by ute in Ferntree Gully
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Stirling Jakubowski and his friend Courtney Nightingale, both 11, were riding on an e-scooter together around 7.30pm on Sunday in Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne’s east, when a white ute with at least three people on board began to follow them.
“They sprayed us [with] this silly string and they came back and forth and did it to us like three times,” Stirling said.
The boys tried to get away but the driver continued to hunt them down.
“They chased us down that street and they swerved at us,” Stirling said.
The ute swerved at the boys for around five minutes until they eventually lost control and crashed.
“Stirling was sitting up and talking but his friend Courtney was in a lot of distress and on the ground not moving,” Stirling’s mother April said.
Courtney’s mother Ange described the terrifying scene.
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“It was quite horrific and the lady who picked me up she was pre-warning me, she’s like ‘there’s a lot of blood’,” she said.
Neighbours saw and heard the boys screaming out, his father Ben told 7NEWS.
“[The] doctor said the helmet saved his life,” he added.
Emergency services arrived within minutes. Witnesses told police the driver was a young girl who appeared underage. She and her friends had fled.
The boys have been left traumatised. Both have suffered broken bones and open wounds and were on Monday night undergoing treatment in hospital.
“He really is battling,” Ben said. “He’s got skin grafts all over him, broken collarbone, broken finger. Most likely going to need plastic surgery.”
His mother, meanwhile, called for severe punishment for those responsible.
“Some severe punishment because it’s not nice,” she said.
“Come and have a see what pain you’ve caused me and Ange and my little boy,” Ben added.
Police are investigating. At this stage the ute has not been found.
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