London: 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.
It emerged recently 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.
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 video includes at least five bloody brawls, many between boys and girls as young as 13 in school uniform.
Horrific compilation
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."
Downes said most of the fighting children had been dealt with.
