How can anyone possibly do this to someone?

[Aliya]

This attack made me feel so sick, why ever did these boys see the need to jump on someones head until they were in effect dead???

Accused teen denies 'murdering Goth woman'

A drunken 15-year-old boy kicked and stamped to death a young woman because she was dressed as a Goth, a court has heard.

The teenager was among a five-strong gang, "acting like a pack of wild animals" as they "savagely and mercilessly" attacked Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend, Preston Crown Court heard.

The accused denies murder, saying he took no part in the attack on Miss Lancaster on August 10 last year.

Sophie Lancaster: kicked to death because she was dressed as a Goth

Sophie, a gap-year student, had begged the gang moments earlier to stop beating her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, a 21-year-old art student.

The accused had started the violence, with a flying kick to the head of Mr Maltby, the jury was told. The gang, "encouraging each other and laughing", punched, stamped and jumped on his head until he was unconscious, Michael Shorrock, QC, for the prosecution, told the jury.

Miss Lancaster had pleaded with them to stop and tried to pull them away, witnesses to the attack in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancs, told police.

But as she knelt down, cradling her boyfriend's head on her lap and calling for help, the accused and another teenager, who has already pleaded guilty to murder, turned on her. The second boy, aged 15 at the time, kicked her in the head, with the accused joining in to kick and stamp on her head.

One witness, a boy, 15, who had tried to stop the violence, told police: "It looked like they were running over and just kicking her in the head, jumping up and down on their head. They were kicking her all over her head."

Mr Shorrock said the gang turned on the couple simply because they were Goths or "moshers" - and dressed differently to them.

The injuries to Miss Lancaster's face were so severe that when paramedics arrived, they could not tell what sex she was. She never regained consciousness and died in hospital 13 days later.

Mr Maltby spent two weeks in hospital, has suffered memory loss and has no recollection of the attack.

The accused, and four other youths, two aged 17 and one 16, have already pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm for the attack on Mr Maltby. None of the teenagers can be named because of their age.

The young couple, from Bacup, were walking home shortly before midnight when they "fell into conversation" with a group of teenagers. The group "drifted" into the park with "no hint of trouble or animosity", Mr Shorrock said.

But while in the darkened park "suddenly and without warning or any provocation", the five teenage boys turned on Miss Lancaster's boyfriend, the court heard.

The trial continues.

[sluggo]

This is so hideous, makes me sick

[Fat Bob]

Nearly as bad as leaving your kid in the car.

[Spike]

There are too many sicko teenagers like these in the UK and they'll probably be set free with a slap on the wrist on account of their "difficult home life". These type of people just laugh at the punishments dished out for such outrageous crimes and that's the problem, there's no serious deterrent for jumping on someone's head until they're dead, especially when they're under 18. See my other post re UK going down the pan.

[baloo]

I wish it was just the UK Spike. Sadly Australia is suffering from the same social crisis.

[kittykat]

You are right Baloo and it's one of the reservations I've got about going back to Oz if I do end up going back. We were at the SMU stadium yesterday and there were cigarette butts and cans of 100 Plus scattered about. I made a joke about the crazy, rebellious youth smoking and drinking 100 Plus and how wild they were. We are lucky here that's about the extent of it and that you are pretty safe walking home at night or taking public transport.

[Morrolan]

they should reintroduce the draft to sort kids out. it's the only way.

[Aliya]

Quite frankly if I was Queen of the World I would people like this steralised, so they dont breed more like them. They don't deserve the right to procreate life after taking one so very very viciously IMHO. Over the top I know but there are some crimes against the community that can never ever be justified.

[Fat Bob]

If the crime against the community is so large, why stop at steralisation? Why not just string 'em up/electrocute/drug 'em to death?

The crime is one of a growing number of crimes in the UK where young adults are the problem. Anyone above the age of 10 knows that kicking,. beating, stabbing someone is wrong, and if a group fo them do it and kill someone, they should know that they will be serverly punished. Unfortunately it's not the case and these people will be free ina few years time in order to continue their lives.

There is a lot of things wrong with the UK now....so yes, time to re-think about whether one would ever move back there.

[Tack]

Terrible case amongst too many others
But I don't buy the whole media hype on this stuff any more than on any other. It doesn't match the experience of me and mine in the UK. We're going back...sooner or later.

[BFG]

I'm with Tack on this one. Yes, it's a terrible crime. Yes, they should be severly punished. No it is not indicative of the UK as a whole.

[Spike]

I'm with Tack on this one. Yes, it's a terrible crime. Yes, they should be severly punished. No it is not indicative of the UK as a whole.

A friend of mine recently arrived back from UK having been severly mugged in the street for no apparent reason. The attitude of the young so called "under class" can be seen everywhere, even in what used to be considered the more civilised parts of the country. To have an ASBO ( a completely ineffective method of discouraging crime) is considered a mark of your criminal standing to be proud of. When you do get attacked you're likely to find yourself bleeding to death for two hours on a trolley in A&E. Friends in UK that haven't already left the UK have homes elsewhere that they will escape to as soon as they've accumulated enough funds to support themselves in another country.

[Satellite]

I know it has been a long time since, but before I went to the UK in 1994, such stories were also rampant. But it was nowhere close to what it was in reality.

Re the hospitals I cant comment on but it also takes about an hour here in the A&E unless it is an emergency

Edit: It was the same thing for the US - i thought I would be mugged the moment I left the house in 2004 but it wasnt like that at all.

[Burbage]

This is what humans are like when society breaks down. Society breaks down in war. It also breaks down when children have no respect for adults and are not expected to live by societal values. Treating children as little "scamps" instead of savages who need to be civilised is the root cause of all these problems.

[BFG]

I understand what you are saying Spike, and I have been in scary situations myself. But that was because I was in a dodgy area. All countries have them.

When I move back to the UK, I wil not be near dodgy areas because the reason I came to Asia was to accumulate enough dosh to be able to afford to live in a nice area - I also have the luxury of being in an industry that is very flexible, geographicaly, should I wish to work.

Completely off-track, that first paragraph was very Hemingwayesque, don't you think?

[Fat Bob]

Hmmmm....just looked at teh national crime statistics. Seems crime is staying level or even reducing in real figures. As UK seems to be getting more and more people in it, then that surprises me somewhat. Latest figures are for 2006/7. Maybe the reporting has just become more sensational?

[Burbage]

Maybe there aren't enough police to detect all the crime?

[Spike]

I understand what you are saying Spike, and I have been in scary situations myself. But that was because I was in a dodgy area. All countries have them.

When I move back to the UK, I wil not be near dodgy areas because the reason I came to Asia was to accumulate enough dosh to be able to afford to live in a nice area - I also have the luxury of being in an industry that is very flexible, geographicaly, should I wish to work.

Completely off-track, that first paragraph was very Hemingwayesque, don't you think?

But isn't that a sad reflection of the place, that you need to be wealthy in order to isolate yourself from the general population and feel safe from dodgy areas? No doubt you will also make sure you have enough wealth to isolate yourself from the National Health system via private insurance, although that still won't help you jump the queue in A&E. I hope you're also prepared for some rough treatment in retirement too. Criminals are treated far better than pensioners these days. If I ever go back it will be because of some issue that forces me to go back, but right now I can't think of a situation that would need repatriation to happen.

[BFG]

I agree that a lot of things could be better and it is a sad state of affairs. It is just that I feel the time is nearly nigh to consider returning to Blighty. If it has to be on the terms above, so be it - I wish it could be otherwise.