London, May 3 (IANS) The distraught mother of a 14-year-old Briton, who was severely beaten up by a group of teenagers for his iPod, said the government had made the worst mistake by 'taking away the rights of parents to chastise their children'.

Tyler Molloy was viciously assaulted by the gang after they stole his iPod. Molloy went into coma for two days and will not be fit enough to return to school until September, Daily Mail reported Monday.

'One of the worst mistakes this government has ever made was taking away the rights of parents to chastise their children,' Tyler's mother, Jerry Molloy, was quoted as saying.

'Maybe if there was more discipline and better parenting, these children wouldn't end up in gangs, destroying people's lives.'

Tyler was talking to three female friends in a park in Balham Wednesday when the gang of 10 teenagers approached them.

They told him to hand over his belongings, including his iPod, his mobile phone and his bank card.

Then one of them punched him and he was knocked unconscious. The gang members then repeatedly kicked him in the stomach and stamped on his head.

Tyler suffered a ruptured spleen and other severe internal injuries.