A gang of teenagers who went viral on social media after they were filmed attacking train staff, passengers and police officers in an alcohol-fuelled rampage have been spared jail.
The five girls, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, threw punches, headbutted and pulled out hair in an incident described as “mass hysteria”.
A girl lifted a lock of hair from a train passenger’s head like a trophy during the hour-long melee, a court heard.
A judge said videos of the incident showed the girls were relentless, completely out of control and showed a constant determination to wreak havoc.
“It was chaos, chaos, chaos,” District Judge Teresa Szagun said.
The youngest was just 13 when a fight broke out at Barnham train station in West Sussex between the group and another girl.
The girls attacked the public, the train staff and the police who tried to intervene.
Local residents claimed the normally quiet village of Barnham was being held hostage by feral youths after images of the girl gang were widely shared on social media.
A gang of teenagers who went viral on social media after they were filmed attacking train staff, passengers and police officers in an alcohol-fuelled rampage have been spared jail.
The five girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, threw punches, headbutted and pulled out hair in an incident at Barnham train station in West Sussex in March.
All five admitted fighting and assaulting train staff, police and members of the public.
The girls threw two women before police were kicked and headbutted as they tried to arrest them.
A train safety officer needed hospital treatment after his own radio hit him in the face.
Judge Szagun told the five girls they would have been jailed if they had been old enough.
The attacks were completely atypical for girls, the court heard.
One member of the group had been principal of her school and was described as an exemplary student.
Others were described as bright, capable and intelligent.
The court heard one of the girls held up a lock of hair like a trophy and laughed, Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard.
The judge said the five girls would have been jailed for the attack on other passengers, train staff and police officers if they had been old enough.
He told the girl, now 17: ‘You were involved from start to finish for over an hour.
‘They saw you kick another girl over and over while she was on the ground.
‘His aggression then turned towards the innocent bystander who was trying to stop this.
‘Your reaction when you realized you had a lock of his hair in your hand is horrible, it’s almost like you’re holding it like a trophy and laughing.
“This drove them to commit more violence, there was a constant determination to wreak havoc.”
The judge told another 16-year-old member of the group: ‘Your behavior was really aggressive.
You were intimidating, confronting the officers.
—You were prepared to hit an officer in the back of the head.
Two men required hospital treatment and one victim had a large amount of hair pulled from his head, Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard.
‘Another officer is taking off his vest when you take the opportunity to punch him, as well as punching another officer when he thinks you have calmed down.
“They took him by surprise.”
He told another girl: ‘You were completely out of control and relentless.
“If you were of legal age, I would sentence you to preventive detention.”
The court heard it was clear all five were very drunk. Other passengers in a waiting room, concerned for their well-being, tried to give them water.
The fight began after a confrontation with another girl and quickly escalated.
The judge said to another girl: ‘You moved on.
‘I don’t think any compensation is going to have any impact on the people who must have been so scared.
Two men required hospital treatment and one victim had a large amount of hair pulled from his head.
Viral video of the incident, which occurred on Easter Saturday, March 30, and clips of shoplifting in Barnham led police to apply for dispersal orders.
Local merchants hired private security and locals held a public meeting to demand action.
The five girls had been drinking before launching a violent attack on another girl in the waiting room at Barnham station.
None of the girls, two aged 15, two aged 16 and one aged 13 at the time, can be identified for legal reasons.
Defending one of the girls, Paula Bristow described the incident as an element of mass hysteria.
‘She does well at school and this was completely out of character.
“There is an element of mass hysteria in this incident.”
The three youngest girls were given nine-month referral orders.
The two older girls received intensive referral orders for 12 months.
Compensation will be paid to the woman who lost a lock of hair, her mother with whom she was traveling and another police officer who also had her hair pulled out.