02 October 2008 03:35
A crowd goaded 17-year-old Shaun Dykes as he threatened to jump off the roof of a shopping centre car park in Derby, England, on Saturday. Shaun, who had been depressed after a recent relationship break-up, then plunged 18 metres to his death as the crowd took photos of his body.
Police negotiators had tried to talk the teenager down for three hours before a crowd formed underneath and shouted abuse at the boy, urging him to jump. Newspaper reports suggested one teen yelled, "How far can you bounce?"
"People were at the police cordon shouting for the man to jump," Derbyshire Superintendent Andy Hough told a newspaper. It was a "disturbing and shocking reflection on society when people feel inclined to do that".
A witness told the paper "when he fell, lots of people were screaming and crying, but there were several groups of youths who ran from behind the cordon and looked like they were taking pictures with their mobile phones."
Source: smh.com.au