A terrifying “happy slapping” of a teenage girl has fuelled concerns over the rise in violent “ladette” culture.
Footage of the girl, believed to be 14, shows her being kicked and kneed in the face by another girl and then left in a bloodied heap on the ground after being battered 15 times.
It emerged today in a compilation of attacks allegedly filmed in and around Edenham High School in Croydon, which has been given a legal warning by government inspectors that it must improve.
The video film comes after national figures showed that girls aged 10 to 17 carried out more than 15,600 assaults and 1,000 muggings last year - or 45 violent attacks a day - according to the Youth Justice Board.
Shocking: the footage shows the teenage girl being kneed in the face, punched and kicked in the head as she lies in a bloodied heap
It came to light after a boy showed it to his mother, telling her: “That’s why I don’t want to go to school.”
The mother, who did not want to be named, said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes - it was worse than anything you could see at the cinema, truly horrifying. A lot of work has been done to collect these fights on a clip. How could someone be so heartless?”
The girl is knocked to the floor and kicked in the face
The film shows the blonde victim being assaulted by a girl with short black hair.
She is first knocked to the ground with a punch to the face before having her head slammed against the road.
As she desperately tries to get to her feet, the other girl knees her in the face - followed by 14 other kicks to the head before the victim finally lies unmoving on the ground.
The video includes at least five bloody brawls, many between boys and girls as young as 13 in school uniform. They swing punches and aim kicks at each other while jeering crowds record the action on their phones.
A pumping “grime” soundtrack attempts to add a gritty atmosphere.
Another parent, Sarah Bennett, said: “It turns your stomach. It’s absolutely sickening. You can see boys and girls tearing at each other and kicking and punching while others stand and laugh. Someone’s taken the time to make this and edit the ‘best’ bits of the fights and set it to music.”
The film also shows two boys in a playground punching, hitting and wrestling each other while schoolmates form a circle, a girl smacking a boy in the face so hard he falls backwardsand breaks a locker door and another girl having her head repeatedly banged against a concrete kerb and kicked until she faints in the road.
In its most recent report on Edenham, published in January, education watchdog Ofsted said: “Staff, parents and students acknowledge that behaviour has been a cause for concern.
“However, there are signs that the new approach to behaviour management is having a positive effect, with a reduction in exclusions and a rise in attendance levels.”
Edenham headteacher Jacey Downes insisted that many of the fights shown on the compilation happened a long time ago. She added: “It is a horrific video and I will work with police to get to the bottom of it.
“We will not tolerate violent behaviour. I do not like excluding pupils but I will do it to ensure this school is a safe place to be.”
Ms Downes said most of the fighting children had been dealt with.
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