Shropshire Star

Happy slap horror at school

A helpless teenager was savagely beaten by another girl in a so-called happy slapping attack filmed in front of a crowd of baying youngsters at a Telford school. A helpless teenager was savagely beaten by another girl in a so-called happy slapping attack filmed in front of a crowd of baying youngsters at a Telford school. The footage shows the blonde-haired thug raining down kicks and punches on her innocent girl victim while she lies cowering on the ground, as fellow pupils at Wrockwardine Wood Arts College look on, laughing and cheering. A third pupil at one point tries to pin the victim's legs to the ground while the onslaught continues - and the whole sickening episode was captured on film by a fourth youngster using a mobile phone. Police in Telford today confirmed they were investigating the incident and said they were particularly keen to trace the pupil who did the filming. Read the full story in today's Shropshire Star.

Published

Mobile phoneA helpless teenager was savagely beaten by another girl in a so-called happy slapping attack filmed in front of a crowd of baying youngsters at a Telford school.

The footage shows the blonde-haired thug raining down kicks and punches on her innocent girl victim while she lies cowering on the ground, as fellow pupils at Wrockwardine Wood Arts College look on, laughing and cheering.

A third pupil at one point tries to pin the victim's legs to the ground while the onslaught continues - and the whole sickening episode was captured on film by a fourth youngster using a mobile phone.

Police in Telford today confirmed they were investigating the incident and said they were particularly keen to trace the pupil who did the filming.

The 15-year-old victim's horrified parents today criticised the school, claiming they had heard nothing from staff at Wrockwardine Wood, despite having tried repeatedly to contact them since the attack.

They also claimed the school had security cameras only to keep an eye on the buildings and the play area where their daughter was set upon was not only not covered, but no teacher was supervising the youngsters.

The girl does not want to be identified, but her parents, from Trench, Telford, said a friend of hers subsequently showed her the video and she had passed it on to them.

The mother said: "I'm absolutely disgusted. As far as I am concerned, children do get into scrapes and arguments, but when I saw the footage I was horrified.

"It is bad enough boys being responsible for attacks like this, but when it is a girl it is almost unbelievable. My job is to protect my child and when she's at school it is the teachers' responsibility - clearly they haven't done their job.

"My daughter was left very shocked at the time. I don't think the school has handled this situation at all. We have been in contact several times but have yet to receive a reply."

Telford police spokesman Chris Amm- onds said today: "We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the attack or has any information about it and are particularly keen to trace the individual responsible for the film footage which has been passed around." Information to police on 08457 444888.

Councillor Clive Mollett, borough council assistant cabinet member for children and young people, said the authority was unaware of the incident. "Any incident of this nature would be taken extremely seriously and every effort would be made to investigate the matter," he said.

By Simon Hardy