A 12-year-old bagpiper has had £16,000 raised for him after being targeted by a mob who sprayed black liquid over his kit.

Elliot Wilson was busking with his pipes in Edinburgh when he was swarmed by a group of young people livestreaming.

Led by a well-known livestreamer, the black-clad gang surrounded him and threw a mysterious liquid on him, staining his kilt and bagpipe case.

The harassment was filmed and streamed on TikTok and has led to a huge outpouring of anger and sympathy.

The local community has quickly raised £16,000 to repair the damage and wash his kilt.

The harassment was filmed and streamed on TikTok much to mum Lynsey Wilson’s dismay.

Her son had been playing bagpipes in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens on Saturday in a quiet spot.

Lynsey said: ‘We were about to wrap up for the day, and we saw this big group of people coming towards us with cameras and phones. Everyone was filming, and they were all dressed in black. They came over to Elliot and surrounded him in his face.

‘I was pushed to the outskirts and couldn’t see what was happening. They made him play – Elliot was terrified, but he played Scotland the Brave one time through and stopped. I was scared – I knew Elliot was scared.It made it worse that I couldn’t see what was happening – he was surrounded.

‘He didn’t see what had been spilt on his kilt and in his case because he was piping, and everything happened so fast. We couldn’t put the pipes back in the case because the liquid had saturated it and ruined it. I was just relieved when they went away, and Elliot was okay.’

Elliot, who has been playing pipes for three years, was busking to raise money for new piping equipment – but members of the local community have already offered him support when he braves the streets again.

‘We’ve had some great support – some people who want to go busking with him when he gets back to it for support and solidarity,’ she said.

Lynsey says that some of the children involved in the group have even reached out to apologise about the incident.

Elliot has started a fundraiser to replace his bagpipe case and pay for dry cleaning of his kilt – and has now attracted over £16,000 in donations.

The rest of the money will be donated to Elliot’s school pipe band, who will use it to fund travel and equipment for competitions.

In a post on his Facebook page, Elliot said: ‘While I was busking in Edinburgh on Saturday 19th September, I had a really upsetting experience involving TikTok and YouTube influencer J2hundred and people who were following him during a livestream.

‘I was surrounded at very close proximity while I was playing and was repeatedly asked to play for them.One of the people following him sprayed liquid over me and my pipe case. My pipe case has been ruined and my kilt now needs to be dry cleaned,’ he said.

The family have been overwhelmed by the support – and mum Lynsey says she is incredibly proud of her son’s resilience.

‘Elliot is resilient – he’s been very mature about the whole thing,’ she said.

‘He’s got a Facebook page and an Instagram page – Elliot the Bagpiper – and the outpouring of support that he’s seen on there has made him feel so much better.

‘I’m so proud of him. He’s handled this so maturely and turned a negative into a positive. It just shows that bullies like that don’t always win.’

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