News of Doom 2.0

CLEVELAND - A group of teenagers beat a homeless man to death as passers-by slowed to watch the attack, some of which was caught on videotape, police said.

Anthony Waters, 42, suffered a lacerated spleen and broken ribs during the attack Wednesday night and died at a hospital, police said.

Portions of the attack were caught on a surveillance camera outside a towing company on the city's east side. Police said the videotape shows passing cars slowing to watch three teens attack Waters until he staggered into the parking lot, where he was assisted by employees of the towing company.

Waters suffered from blunt abdominal trauma, a head injury and damaged internal organs, the Cuyahoga County coroner said.

The attackers, who appeared to be between the ages of 14 to 17, robbed Waters of a music player and headphones, police said. No arrests have been made.

Even by tough, urban crime standards it was a grisly attack: Up to 15 people chased a man, then kicked and beat him to death on the street. Before police arrived, one attacker urinated on the victim's head.

By the time Charles Gooden Jr., 41, took his final steps, the crime-hardened neighborhood had awakened and two people, talking in matter-of-fact tones, reported a man down, his clothes being dragged off.

"You got a male being assaulted by 15 other guys. He's laying on the street," one 911 caller said.

Latangia Anderson, 23, Johnny Brown, 20, and Paris Moore, 19, all of Cleveland, have been charged with aggravated murder and each pleaded not guilty Monday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Bond was set at $1 million for each.

The attackers sent word that anyone helping police could face retribution, according to City Councilman Kevin Conwell, who called them gang members. Like most council members, Conwell keeps in touch with police commanders, especially on high-profile crimes that worry residents.

Police haven't mentioned a motive. Conwell said it involved an argument involving a woman and a threat by her cousin against Gooden.

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Wilmington police have arrested a man suspected of raping a 95-year-old woman inside her home in the city's historic district.

Brian Anthony Reavis, 41, of Wilmington, was arrested Wednesday night. Charges against Reavis include rape, kidnapping and burglary. He is being held on $1 million bond at the New Hanover County jail.

The woman was attacked April 12 as she picked up a newspaper on her front porch.

Police said the man pushed his way inside and demanded money. The woman gave him $20 sitting on a table. Then the man forced her upstairs to get her purse, raped her and beat her, severely injuring her eye, police said.

13-year-old Jamie Smith was high on cider when he kicked Stephen Croft to death

Mr Croft's sister Sarah criticised Smith's parents for creating a "monster" and said no sentence was punishment enough for destroying their family.

The court heard that Smith, who despite his age already had 11 previous convictions, including robbery and assault, was on the run from a care home at the time of the murder.

He was taken into care in September after the arrest of his father. Gerald Murphy, 31, was jailed for a minimum 11 years in January after being convicted of a vicious attack on an Asian market trader which left his victim paralysed from the neck down.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Smith, from Birkenhead, had been sent to a home near Accrington but would repeatedly abscond and return home.

On the evening of November 5 care workers, alerted by Smith's family, arrived to take him back to the care home but he became aggressive, threatened to set off a firework in a carer's car and ran off.

He attended a community bonfire, in Quarry Bank, Birkenhead, where he met Mr Croft, a former builder who had developed a drink problem following an industrial accident.

By 1am Mr Croft was the equivalent of five times the drink drive limit and in a "vulnerable" state, said David Turner, QC, prosecuting.

Stephen Croft was battered to death and his body was thrown into a bonfire.

Following the murder, Smith went to the local YMCA and told staff that there was "someone stuck in the fire" and that he had tried to rescue him.

In fact, the court heard, the opposite was true.

Police were called and Smith was arrested. He gave officers a false name and denied any part in the attack.

But officers discovered Mr Croft's blood on his clothing and, in February this year, he pleaded guilty to murder. A charge of robbery was ordered to lie on file.

Three binge-drinking youths who battered a builder to death when he caught them burgling his home were found guilty of murder yesterday.

Their frenzied attack as they kicked and stamped on 47-year-old Mark Witherall was captured on a CCTV soundtrack.

At one stage they could be heard "egging each other on" and laughing and sniggering as Mr Witherall was left dying in a pool of blood on the pavement outside his home.

His attackers, Curtis Delima, 19, Mark Elliott, 21, both unemployed, and a 16-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, then went back into the house to continue ransacking it.

Mr Witherall died in hospital from head injuries on March 7 last year after more than five weeks on a life-support machine.

Yesterday Mr Witherall's family cheered as the verdicts were returned.

Delima, Elliott and the 16-year-old, who often laughed and joked in the dock during the trial, showed no emotion as they were led away. They will be sentenced on April 18.

A convicted mugger ripped off his electronic security tag before he and a schoolboy murdered an innocent student in a savage attack.

Joseph Booth, 18, who was being monitored after being convicted of a string of violent incidents, managed to get the tag off his ankle.

Minutes later, fuelled by alcohol and cannabis, Booth and the 15-year-old beat, kicked and stamped on the victim, who was left so badly disfigured his family could not recognise him.

The 15-year-old also rifled through Seffar Khan's pockets, taking a cigarette and a lighter, before they left him to die.

Booth and the schoolboy were later arrested after making a series of admissions to family and friends about their roles in the attack in Bobby Heywood Park, Bolton, last November.

Inquiries revealed the pair regularly trawled the park looking for victims. Both had been convicted previously for attacks in the area.

Booth, of Tildsley Street, Bolton, had previous convictions for threatening behaviour, assault, battery and robbery when victims were punched or threatened with a knife in the park.

The schoolboy had also been convicted of offences involving robbery in and around the park.

Now they are starting life sentences after admitting murdering the 19-year old student.

Mr Justice Christopher Clarke said Booth, who had been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, had knocked Mr Khan to the ground before the 15-year-old repeatedly stamped on his head.

Booth was ordered to serve at least 12 years, 60 days before he can be considered for parole.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was told he must serve at least nine years and 240 days.

David Martin, 40, was attacked with weapons believed to include a golf club and hatchet after trying to retrieve his 10-year-old son Jamie's football from a neighbour's garden.

The father-of-three lay dying in front of Jamie, his wife Angela, and their 12-year-old daughter Samantha, in Rutter Gardens, Mitcham.

In 1986, Mr Martin's father Raymond, 49, was murdered trying to save David.

He was beaten to death outside a pub near the family home in Mitcham by a gang of youths. One neighbour said: “A gang of boys were after David and his dad saw them having a go at him. He intervened but they all turned on him, killing him.

“David saw his dad die in front of him and now his son has seen David die in front of him. I can't believe this tragedy has happened twice.”

Today Mrs Martin, 39, spoke of her grief for the first time. She had tried to save her husband and was treated in hospital for shock and minor injuries after the attack at about 7pm on Sunday.

Speaking from the family home, she said: “I'm grieving for my husband. I just want him back but that's not going to happen, is it.”

Officers called to the cul-de-sac of semi-detached houses found his body in a front garden.

A neighbour who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been told the incident had all been over a ball kicked into a garden.

He said: “Two young boys around here were picking on Mr Martin's son and they nicked the ball off him. He came round to have a word with the father of one of them and another neighbour got involved.”

Today Kay Scrivener, 41, of Rutter Gardens was remanded in custody at Wimbledon magistrates' court charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

A girl of 14 and two women aged 69 and 41 who were arrested in connection with the attack have been released on bail.

A man in his 30s remains in custody at a south London police station.

All are believed to be related.

A man is in a coma after three boys, one as young as 10, bashed him with a letterbox attached to a metal pipe, leaving him bleeding on a road where he was struck by a car, NSW police say.

The boys, believed aged between 10 and 17, allegedly beat him with a letterbox attached to a metre-length piece of pipe.

Police said a passing motorist stopped and confronted the boys, and they fled, leaving their victim on the road with severe head injuries.

Before the injured man could be moved, a second car struck him, resulting in further injuries.

The 41-year-old man was treated at the scene for head injuries and rushed to Gosford Hospital in a serious condition, where he has later placed in a medically-induced coma.