The two girls attacked an 87-year-old woman who was punched in the face and had to be taken to the hospital.
Police have released CCTV footage of the “nasty” attack to try to track down the girls in the attack on Brighton Road in Coulsdon at around 3:20pm on Friday October 16.
Another passenger came to the aid of the elderly lady as the two girls fled. The release of the video appears to have worked. One girl has been arrested and another is being sought. The arrested girl however is 14 years old. That would like mean that she will face limited jail time.
This case present difficult questions with minors. My concern is that the attack on an elderly person like this shows a fundamental lack of humanity and control. A person who commits such a crime harbors a serious emotional problems in my view. If the photos above are after the attack, my concern is magnified even further by the virtually giddy image. Yet, minors in the United States are generally held until 18 in most serious crimes unless they are treated as adults given the nature of the offense. That can result in the release of someone with a dangerous and violent disposition. We recently saw such a case in the United States of a cowardly attack on a homeless woman.
It is difficult to balance the need to recognize the fact that these are minors with the gravity of the crime. What do you think?
