Schoolboys kill man

[frizzle]

Last Updated: Tuesday, 11 September 2007, 13:45 GMT 14:45 UK

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Schoolboys 'kicked man in head'

Mr Greenwood died from a head injury

Two schoolboys accused of killing a partially-sighted man were seen kicking the victim as he lay on the floor, Sheffield Crown Court has been told. A witness said she heard "muffled thuds" as one of the boys, who cannot be named, kicked Colin Greenwood near a tram terminus in the city in April.
Mr Greenwood, 45, of Southey Green, later died from a brain injury.
Both boys, now aged 14 and 15, deny murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Witness Lisa Collier said she saw a hooded boy grab Mr Greenwood by his clothes and pull him down on to the floor before aiming at least three or four kicks to his head.
"From where I was it looked like he was directly kicking that person in the head," she told the jury.
'Unsteady'
Miss Collier said she heard "muffled thuds" as the boy kicked Mr Greenwood "forcefully" before he and another boy, who she did not see taking part in the attack, left the scene at Middlewood tram terminus in the north of the city.
After the attack, Miss Collier watched as Mr Greenwood used a set of railings to pull himself to his feet and made his way "unsteadily" towards where she was standing.
She learned the next day that Mr Greenwood had died.
A schoolgirl, giving evidence by video link, said she had seen both boys, who she knew, kicking Mr Greenwood on his head and body "quite a few times".
Earlier in the trial, the court heard the boys launched the attack after Mr Greenwood kicked out at one them as they pretended to punch him and threatened to stab him with a penknife.
Mr Greenwood was only taken to hospital later in the day after he fell as he got off a bus. He died the next morning.
A post-mortem examination found his death was due to a brain injury but also revealed areas of bruising and broken ribs.
The case continues.

Source: BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | Schoolboys 'kicked man in head'


Quite sickening that 13/14 year olds are now in the situation where they think it's cool or big to attack random people. I seriously doubt this was a murder case as the kids didn't have it pre-meditated, but the 12 and half year sentences will certainly show these scumbags that li "Billy big bollocks" attitude will not get you anywhere in life.

 

[DC_DEEP]

I agree, sickening.

At ages 14 and 15, they certainly knew better, and almost certainly knew that kicking him senseless could result in injury (duh!)

12.5 years is not NEARLY long enough a sentence.

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

Our society is producing so many children who kill that it's time we took much stronger action, the kind of child that is going to turn out badly is fairly easy to spot, and they should be treated before they kill someone.

 

[D_Humper E Bogart]

That news is old. I've read of an Iraq War Veteran being taken out (for good, if you catch my drift) by those yobs. Those ferals are more dangerous than even Al-q it would seem.

But which one is sexier to declare war on?

 

[Willy_the_Wonka]

Another story on the little shits that did it.

Boys jailed for tram stop murder

The judge said the boys' childhoods could be to blame for their crime

Two boys who killed a partially-sighted man by kicking and stamping on him at a tram stop have been jailed for at least 12-and-a-half years for his murder.
Colin Greenwood, 45, from Southey Green, Sheffield, was attacked by Leon Gray and Lewis Barlow at the Middlewood tram stop in the city on 13 April.
The father-of-five died in hospital the next day. Gray, 15, and Barlow, 14, were found guilty of murder last month.
Sheffield Crown Court heard both boys came from "dysfunctional families".

It was gratuitous, unprovoked and sustained violence


Judge Alan Goldsack QC


The boys' trial heard that Mr Greenwood was on his way home from seeing his five children - aged between four and 11 - at his former partner's home when the attack happened.
He was described in court as "vulnerable", being "not only visually disabled, but also highly intoxicated and suffering from the effects of long-established alcoholism".
Mr Greenwood kicked out at one of the boys as they pretended to punch him and threatened to stab him with a knife.
The pair then cornered him and pulled him to the ground, where Barlow stamped on his ribs before both boys kicked him in the head.
Boys 'boasted'
The court heard Mr Greenwood continued his journey on a tram, telling one witness who stopped to help him that he should use a white stick, but did not as he had been attacked before and it drew attention to his disability.
Mr Greenwood died the morning after he was attacked


Witnesses also told the court how Barlow and Gray, who were both 14 at the time, returned to their estate in the Winn Gardens area of the city after the attack "boasting" about what they had done.
His Honour Judge Alan Goldsack QC, honorary recorder of Sheffield, lifted reporting restrictions banning the identification of the boys.
He described the pair as "out of control, amoral and prepared to use gratuitous and mindless violence on vulnerable people". He said: "It was gratuitous, unprovoked and sustained violence and in so far as there is an explanation, it appears to lie in your family backgrounds and the culture in which you've grown up. Judge Goldsack said he would be rewarding one 14-year-old witness £500 for coming forward to police to describe the attack and name the people involved.

And if an adult tries to fight back, they'd be arrested for assaulting a minor?

 

[Osiris]

You are so right Frizzle. It's the glamorization of violence and (in some cases) a lack of morals being instilled at home. I do not understand where the thrill is with his type of thing.

Thank goodness I have children who know how to behave and respect life. I'm proud to be raising community leaders and not gang leaders.