Feral Youth (part xx)

Would scum be too strong a word to describe the scum in this story?

"As an ex-policewoman, Julie Pickford thought she knew how to deal with rowdy teenagers.

So when she politely asked a boy to stop throwing popcorn at other passengers on a tram she was confident he and the rest of his gang would behave.

Nothing could have prepared her for the shocking and violent attack that followed.

Without warning, one girl stood up and punched her in the face and then a mob of up to 30 teenagers joined in, punching her and stamping on her.

Mrs Pickford, 47, a mother-of-two who has a judo black belt, was powerless to stop the attack and briefly blacked out.

With blood streaming from her injuries and £50 stolen from her handbag, she was thrown off the tram at the next stop in Sale, Greater Manchester.

She was taken to hospital with a suspected fracture to her eye socket, a badly-cut mouth and severe bruising and grazes. Mrs Pickford, who runs a commercial property firm, was discharged the next day but went back to hospital after she began passing blood because of suspected kidney damage....

"They were a pack of animals," she said.

"I'm a fit and healthy woman. Had it been someone a bit older it could have been
another Garry Newlove."

No respect for anyone, no sense of decency, fairness or restraint - scum would seem to be a fair word. IF anyone is found guilty of this crime, you can imagine their bleeding-heart lawyer blaming their upbringing etc. and the judge giving them the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. I despair of what this country has become, I want out.