A TEENAGER, whose vicious bullying video of two schoolgirls in Northfield went viral on social media, has been ordered to spend the next ten months making amends.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to robbery and assault at a previous hearing before she was sentenced today (August 3) at Birmingham Youth Court.
The footage, which was taken on July 14 on Sir Herbert Austin Way, shows the teen forcing a 14-year-old girl to get on her hands and knees to apologise for giving her ‘a dirty look’ before grabbing the other girl’s handbag and hitting her around the face with it.
The bully is then seen turning her attention to the other girl, also 14 – she forces her to the floor to apologise before stealing her bag and, in a final act of humiliation, orders her to take her shoes and socks off.
A judge handed the teen a ten month referral order with an intensive contract. This means she will have to appear before a youth offender panel who, in conjunction with the victims’ wishes, will decide what she will need to do to redress the harm she caused.
Whatever actions are agreed will then have to be completed over a space of ten months or she will be sent back to court for resentencing. The girl was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation and her mother was given a three-month parenting order, which will involve her attending regular guidance sessions.
Det Cons Michelle Beasley said: “The girl in question has fully admitted the offences she was charged with and is disgusted by her own actions.
“This was an act of bullying in its most sadistic and spiteful form – people who viewed the footage online were quite rightly outraged by what they had seen.
“While it is only right the victims in this case have a say in how this girl will make up for what she has done, her real sentence is the video of her appalling behavior, which is likely to remain on the internet haunting her for many years to come.”
Another teenage girl, 16, who was suspected of being involved in the attack has been interviewed by officers and a file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration.
Police have asked members of the public to not share the video in the interests of the victims and because of on-going proceedings.
