'Happy slapping' leads to first convictions in Britain

By Anna Tomforde Jan 24, 2006, 16:52 GMT

London - Five years after the mobile phone camera came to Britain, a court in London this week passed the first jail terms on a gang of teenagers for a so-called 'happy slapping attack' in which the killing of an innocent victim is filmed on a mobile phone.

Chelsea O'Mahoney, who was 14 at the time of the attack in October, 2004, asked victim David Morley 'to pose for the camera' before she took pictures of her friends setting upon the 37-year-old former barman.

Then she proceeded to kick him in the head herself.

'She kicked him like you would kick a football or a rugby ball, just swinging her right foot back and kicking him really hard in the head', the Old Bailey criminal court in London was told.

Chelsea, now 16, who led a life in foster care after having been abandoned by her mother, was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter.

Her three male companions, aged between 17 and 21, received prison terms of 12 years each.

The gang staged 5 attacks on 8 people within a few hours that night, capturing the assaults on camera to laugh over the clips later, in what the court described as an 'all-night orgy of violence' on the south bank of the Thames in London on October 30, 2004.

The four were told that they would have to serve at least two- thirds of their sentences before being released on licence.

The judge said the gang had become obsessed with catching people unawares, assaulting them and filming the scene.

'You called this 'happy slapping' - no victim on the receiving end would dignify it with such a deceptive description. You sought enjoyment from humiliation and pleasure from the infliction of pain,' the judge told the youngsters.

'Happy slapping,' which is believed to have originated in the more deprived areas of south London about a year ago, has become a nationwide phenomenon in Britain.

Sociologists believe it began as a playground prank in which an unwitting victim was surprised and 'slapped lightly' around the face while his or her reaction was filmed.

But on many occasions it has turned into real violence with gangs bullying children and young adults, or complete strangers being assaulted as part of a mugging.

In the case of Morley his attackers went out on several occasions in the middle of the night and preyed on smaller groups who happened to be out and about.

Graham Barnfield, a lecturer at the University of East London and an expert on the phenomenon, said he believed some 'happy slapping' footage echoed the antics of people on TV shows, such as Jackass and Dirty Sanchez.

There was an 'unhealthy level of voyeurism and a lack of self- restraint' among many people who had mobile phone cameras, said Barnfield.

This ranged from men filming up the skirts of girls walking down the street, to a Glasgow man who was recently jailed for showing a colleague graphic footage of a beheading in Iraq.

However, there would be no need for new legislation to cope with the changes in technology, he believed. <!--page-->

For the time being at least, the government seems to agree. Asked about 'happy slapping', a Home Office spokeswoman said: 'The government deplores this practice but we think existing legislation can be used to cover it.'

She said a person taking photos could be seen as aiding and abetting an assault and could be prosecuted with the maximum penalty ranging from six months for common assault to life for wounding.

Mobile phone companies, meanwhile, fearing negative publicity, say they are working to combat the 'happy slapping' phenomenon.

'We do visit schools to talk about mobile phone etiquette, including mobile phone bullying,' said a spokesman for Orange, the telecommunications company.