It shows the power of the group, doesn't it. People are much less inhibited in a group but all the same, I find it hard to believe that the one who twice kicked the man in the head was 'gentle and shy'.
But it is probably true that the leg stomper was less involved and only went along with it because he felt pressured to.
So.. the sentences for the 5 boys should not necessarily be identical, in my view.
They are only 15 & 16 so in this case, I think they probably should be judged in a children's court rather than as adults. BUT I do have a bit of a problem with how sometimes this difference between adult/juvenile court is cynically abused.
Some time ago I saw a student I recognised in the news-on an internet news report actually. He had well over 300 previous convictions and they included-get this-home invasions- but the latst one, the one he was facing court for, was for a car jacking where he held a gun to the driver's head. Now, he was 19 years old and the crime was committed when he was 18 but his lawyer was angling to get him classified as a juvenile, because the sentence would be a lot less harsh. The lawyer felt jail was too traumatic for this little darling to have to put up with.
My own view is if people want 18 to be the legal adult age, if people are going to be allowed to vote, drive, drink, marry, go to war etc at 18 then they can't expect to have all the rights but none of the responsibilities and claim to be juveniles when they commit a crime. Personally I would not only have jailed ex student, I would have deported him.
I don't have a problem with juveniles not having their names published but I don't believe their records should be closed or hidden in later life.
