A GIRL is being kept at home by her parents in protest at a school's attitude to her bullying claims.

Bill and Linda Barclay say their daughter Kelly, 14, is living in fear of her tormentor, and claim she has been subjected to violence, verbal abuse, and even a death threat.

The couple yesterday accused teachers at Farr High School in Bettyhill, Sutherland, of failing to learn lessons from the suicide of bullied Stornoway pupil Katherine Morrison in 1996.

Mrs Barclay, 32, of Melvich Terrace, Melvich, near Thurso, said: ''Kelly has been suffering this nightmare for several years now, with nothing but empty warnings from the school to the culprit.

''We're digging our heels in now. We're just not prepared stand it anymore.''

The couple claim an older boy who travels on the same school bus frequently subjects Kelly to physical and verbal abuse.

Mrs Barclay received a letter from the 88-pupil Farr secondary on Tuesday which sought to assure her that the allegations were ''being treated very, very seriously'' and that ''a considerable amount of time'' had been spent on the problem.

But it also warned her that it was for the school to decide appropriate ways of solving disciplinary problems and that it was against the law to keep a child off school without good reason.

Head teacher Jim Johnston said: ''We operate a considered anti-bullying policy which deals with all cases known to us in a fair way.

''We are confident this case is being dealt with in the best interests of all concerned and that Kelly should feel free to return to school immediately.''

Mrs Barclay said that the school recently ordered the culprit to sit at the front of the school bus, but this merely exacerbated the situation.

She said: ''Kelly had to walk past him as she got off the bus and he just took it from there. He has actually threatened to kill her in the last few days.

''He tells her he will never stop until he has made her life complete hell.''