Savages who kill for kicks: And a 14-year-old girl who filmed it on her mobile phone
29jan06
WHEN a judge released images of a 14-year-old girl using her mobile phone to film her mates kicking an innocent bystander to death, people in Britain and around the world were sickened.
The so-called "happy slapping" phenomenon, whereby young people film themselves assaulting innocent strangers, had claimed its first fatality.
The young London thugs responsible for the heinous crime were sentenced this week to a total of 44 years in jail – not for murder, but for manslaughter.
Just how stomping on someone's body until they die is not murder is a matter of serious concern. But it was the images of young Chelsea O'Mahoney calmly filming the deadly assault and seven others like it during an hour-long rampage, that have most disturbed people.
The wide-eyed, pretty youngster even asked victims to smile for the camera before her three male friends, then aged between 14 and 19, set about kicking the living daylights out of them.
The attacks occurred on one of London's most popular tourist strips not far from the London Eye and across the Thames from Big Ben.
The fatal attack on barman David Morley followed months of violence by the gang, known as the Sargeant Crew, after its leader Reece Sargeant, 21 .
He and his two co-thugs Darren Case, 19, and David Blenman, 17, each received 12 years and O'Mahoney was given eight years' youth detention.
The case has not only brought "happy slapping" into stark relief, but has triggered a debate about the root causes of the growing problem of youth violence, such as poverty, family abuse, binge drinking and drug abuse. A lack of police resources also has been blamed.
The Sargeant Crew spent hours drinking and smoking cannabis before they would take to the streets late at night stalking victims, usually homeless people or drunks.
None of the four has shown remorse and seasoned police have been shocked by the motive for the terrible assaults.
"I have heard of some bizarre and perverse motives, but never simply for fun like this," said Det-Insp Bob Campony.
"These people have inflicted acts of extreme violence on innocent, defenceless people. They have been totally unmoved by the consequences of their actions."
Paul Fawcett, a spokesman for the group Victim Support, said victims of happy-slap assaults were far more seriously affected by the deliberate act than accident victims, for example.
"People affected by such crime heal more slowly because they know that someone decided to hurt them on purpose," Mr Fawcett said.
"The use of phones to film it adds a new dimension because it means there was no other reason for the assault, such as money or drugs, other than the gratification of inflicting pain."
Because of her camera work, O'Mahoney has become the face of the shocking case. Her story is typical of thousands of youngsters roaming the streets of London and other cities around the world.
She is the daughter of heroin addicts and from the age of three simply wandered the streets around the tough Kennington estate in South London.
She has been farmed out to relatives, placed in foster care and was virtually destined for a life of crime. Her only real family was the gang.
The extent of the social problem around the happy-slap killing was evident outside the court when relatives of the accused hurled abuse at the family of the man the youths had killed.
The happy-slapping craze began in London before spreading worldwide.
In its basic form, it usually involves one young person physically attacking an unsuspecting passer-by as another youth films the incident, to be later shown to mates or posted on the internet.
At its most sinister, gangs of slappers such as the Sargeant Crew stalk their victims in isolated locations before attacking them like a pack of wild animals.
British police investigated more than 200 happy- slap assaults in six months, but they believe hundreds more go unreported.
