Happy slapping is a fad in which someone assaults a sometimes unsuspecting victim while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone or a smartphone). Most happy-slappers are teenagers or young adults. Several incidents are extremely violent, and some victims of "happy-slapping" have even been killed. Though the name will usually refer to minor acts of violence such as hitting (slapping) or jumping on the victim, more serious crimes such as rape and sexual assaults have been "classified as happy slapping" by the media.
Filming attacks seems to be common in modern bullying, and not unique to happy slapping. The core defining feature of happy slapping is an effort by the attacker to make the assault seem like a comical surprise at the victim's expense. When the "happy slapping" craze first started, it was seen amongst youngsters as harmless fun. Despite the increased level of violence, this perception sometimes persists. Often those found performing such activities will say they were just "happy slapping", asserting their belief that no significant harm was caused to the victim (often contradicting the obvious) with the only result being humorous entertainment.
Use with video technology
Although the concept of filming a crime is an old one, the ease and general availability of video cameras in mobile phones means that such attacks need not be planned carefully beforehand and are more easily watched and circulated for comedy purposes afterwards. Some political and media commentators have accused Jackass , Dirty Sanchez and Bumfights of inspiring slappings. Happy slapping can be more violent than a mere slap (causing criticism of its name) and may include a strike or even actual bodily harm. Sometimes the assault is performed with other crimes, such as mugging, and can lead to manslaughter.
History
Happy Slapping is known to have started in South London, in particular the London Borough of Lewisham, in a format known as "Slap TV", where a happy-slapping video would be recorded, and then watched by dozens of people like a TV show. The first newspaper article to ever use the phrase 'happy slapping' was "Bullies film fights by phone", published in The Times Educational Supplement on January 21 , 2005 , in which reporter Michael Shaw described teachers' accounts of the craze in London schools. Within the United Kingdom, where the term is used most frequently, it is associated with the ned/chav sub-culture.
The Phrase Finder describes the phenomenon thus:
Legal consequences
Denmark
When the international media attention surrounding attacks abroad reached a high point, a girl was sentenced to 8 months in prison. She was however sentenced on a number of counts including previous crimes. According to more recent sentences the common punishment is a fine or up to 40 days in prison, suspended if the attacker has no previous record.
Happy slapping is judged as "simple battery" as defined by section 244 of the Danish Criminal Code.
France
In February 2007, an amendment to a law on the prevention of delinquency aimed at criminalising happy slapping was added by the Parliament of France to a law "on the prevention of the delinquence" based on a proposal from then Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. In the final text, the anti-happy-slapping clause appears as the last part of Article 44, which also deals with ambushing law enforcement forces. To summarize:
- The law equates filming or photographing certain classes of violent crimes, including severe beatings and rape, with being an accomplice of such crimes.
- The law makes it illegal to broadcast the images of such crimes, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a €75,000 fine.
However, the law is not applicable to those who took the above actions in order to obtain evidence in court, or as professional journalism. Professional journalism is delimited in France by the "press card", which is awarded by a commission representing journalist unions and press organizations. As defined by law, a professional journalist is one whose main activity is professional, paid, journalism.
The bill was signed into law on 5 March 2007 , despite some organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and the French chapter of Wikimedia, arguing that this clause created a legal discrimination in criminal law between professional journalists and ordinary citizens practicing journalism. Specifically, it was argued that citizens filming incidents of police brutality and publishing such information online could be intimidated by law enforcement into remaining silent, or possibly prosecuted for their actions. This criticism was relayed by the international media.
Nicolas Sarkozy, French President, declared to Reporters Without Borders that "the spirit of the law is not to infringe of freedom of information", "However, if the least doubt subsisted, then I'm in favour of a clarification of the law".
United Kingdom
In March 2008, a teenage girl who filmed the fatal beating of a man on her mobile phone was sentenced to two years' detention in the first prosecution of its kind in the United Kingdom. She had pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court in February 2008 to aiding and abetting the manslaughter of Gavin Waterhouse, 27 from Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Mark Masters, 19, from Keighley, and Sean Thompson, 17, from Bradford were sentenced to seven and six years respectively after admitting to Mr Waterhouse's manslaughter. He died from a ruptured spleen after being beaten by the two youths in September 2007.
Just before the attack, the girl was handed a mobile phone by one of the attackers and told to "video this", prosecutors said. She then approached Mr Waterhouse, asked for money, and recorded the subsequent attack. She was sentenced to serve a two-year detention training order.
Police said they were satisfied with the court's decision. The Crown Prosecutor said "this is the first time a suspect in England and Wales has been successfully prosecuted for aiding and abetting murder or manslaughter, for the filming of an inaptly called, 'happy slapping' incident".
Media-reported incidents
By necessity, the incidents are listed by the time of media attention rather than the time of the attacks themselves.
- United Kingdom, 9 May 2005 A Plant Hill Arts College student who was left unconscious in a vicious "happy slapping" attack. A 16-year-old girl was beaten up in Blackley. Footage of the attack was circulated on students' phones.
- United Kingdom, 9 June 2005 : On 25 May 2005 , in the Wortley area of Leeds, 17-year-old student Kerry Deville was approached by two men, one of whom shot her in the leg with an air rifle, while the second subsequently recorded her injuries on a mobile phone.
- United Kingdom, 18 June 2005 : Police arrested three 14-year-old boys for the suspected rape of an 11-year-old girl who attended their school in Stoke Newington, London. Authorities were alerted when school staff saw footage from the students' phones.
- United Kingdom, December, 2005: The murder of David Morley. A 15-year-old-girl, Chelsea O'Mahoney (an alias) and her co-defendants Reece Sargeant, 21, Darren Case, 18, and David Blenman, 17, were all found guilty of the manslaughter but not murder of David Morley near Waterloo Station, in London. Barry Lee, 20, and another 17-year-old were cleared of all charges. According to press reports, "The 15-year-old girl had told Morley that she was making a documentary about 'happy slapping' before her gang of friends kicked him to death."
- Denmark, 10 May 2006 : Yet another case was reported in the newspapers. Two men aged 17 and 19 attacked a woman in Copenhagen, one kicking the victim while the other filmed the incident using a mobile phone. Two plain clothes police officers saw the whole incident, and the assailants were immediately arrested and the mobile phone confiscated.
- Sweden, 1 September 2006 : After a 16-year-old boy happy-slapped and hospitalised a 15-year-old Balkan boy in the city of Örebro, the 15-year-old's 17-year-old sister stabbed and killed the former with a hunting knife and claimed self-defence. The killing was filmed and distributed online.
- Australia, 23 October 2006 : Police in Victoria launch an investigation into the content of a DVD, at the centre of the 2006 Melbourne teenage DVD controversy which contained amongst other things, footage of several teenagers sexually assaulting a girl, and setting her hair on fire. Copies of the film were allegedly sold at the Werribee Secondary College for AUD10.
- United Kingdom, 26 January 2007 : Andrew Elvin, 17, was jailed for a minimum of 12 years for the murder of Luke Salisbury, who died 3 days after being attacked by Elvin on 2 March 2006 . Caine Hallett, 18, was sentenced to five years for manslaughter for the same incident, while a Danielle Reeves, 18, faced a retrial in May 2007 for manslaughter.
- United Kingdom, 14 February 2007 : Eight youths set upon a 31 year-old man in Brighton, wh
Happy slapping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Happy slapping is a fad in which someone assaults a sometimes unsuspecting victim while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone or a smartphone).
Happy SLAPPing | Azrights IP Brands Blog | Intellectual Property ...
IP Brands Blog | Happy SLAPPing | Intellectual Property, Branding, Trademarks, Patents, Copyright, Internet, Domains and Technology law commentary from Azrights Solicitors.
The London Consortium : STATIC : Issue 01 : PLAY AND VIOLENCE - Robert ...
Happy slapping: transatlantic contagion or home-grown, mass-mediated nihilism? Robert Saunders. Origin: Static Issue 01
Fad of filming violent attacks on mobile phones spreads | UK news ...
Fad of filming violent attacks on mobile phones spreads. ... Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze. Fad of filming violent attacks on mobile phones spreads
YouTube - Happy Slapping
WMG took the audio down. Watch it here: http://vimeo.com/2947796 Happy Slapping NOTE: This is a shortfilm, it's not REAL. www.Rproductie.nl for more shortfilms!
CBBC Newsround | Guides | UK | Bullying | What is 'happy slapping'?
Get the facts and get the better of bullies.
BBC NEWS | UK | Does 'happy slapping' exist?
As reports spread of random attacks on strangers being filmed on mobile phones, BBC News asks whether the trend exists.
Urban Dictionary: happy-slapping
happy-slapping - 1 definition - A recent craze in which [chavs] ambush an innocent passer-by, and beat them up while one of the gang videos the who...
'Happy Slapping' Spreads in London - ABC News
The images are startling. For sale on the Internet are videos that have recorded hundreds of fights in Arlington, Texas. Some of the fights appear organized, and the participants ...
YouTube - Groland - Happy Slapping
c'est chiant tout ces anglophone qui nous insultent parcequ'ils comprennent pas la blague... quelqu'un pour leur expliquer?