Youths jailed for fatal ‘happy slapping’ of disabled man

Clare Chapman

The two 16-year-olds, who were not named for legal reasons, followed 46-year-old disabled man Andrew Holdcroft as he got off a tram in the southern city of Stuttgart before attacking him last January.

The Stuttgart Regional Court heard how the two youths, one Spanish and one Italian, pushed Mr Holdcroft to the ground before kicking him in the head as he lay defenceless on the ground.

The pair walked away, but then returned and kicked him some more so they could take pictures with their mobile phones.

The court heard the teenagers, who lived in the city with their families, were arrested after showing the pictures to friends.

The British man died from his injuries two days later in hospital.

Judge Stefan Eckert said: "The fully helpless man, who was disabled and unable to walk properly, did not put up any resistance. You kicked him repeatedly in the head as if you were playing with a football."

An unnamed witness said she called police after noticing the youths in the tram and overhearing one say "let's get him" to the other.

The teenagers pleaded guilty but were unable to give a motive for the attack other than they had been "bored" and "looking for something to do".

The court heard they left a club late on January 22.

During the trial they apologised to Mr Holdcroft's relatives through his brother, who was in court.

They were found guilty of murder and sentenced to nine years in jail one year less than the maximum sentence of 10 years that can be imposed on minors.

The happy slapping attack followed on from similar incidents in Spain and Switzerland.

There have been several arrests of happy slappers, and police in Germany and Switzerland say the trend has become such a problem they have contacted their UK counterparts to get advice on tackling the craze.

They believe it spread to the continent by British holiday-makers and also through internet chat rooms, where youngsters have read about the craze and swap videos.