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| Happy slappy killing |
MATTHEW ACTON   
REVEALED: Pictures thug took of dying boy THESE are the shocking images
that broke a mother's heart...for the second time. For as her teenage son
lay fatally wounded from a blow to the head, a sick monster filmed the harrowing
moments on a mobile phone. Rather than help stricken Triston Christmas by
dialling 999 on the handset, the vile yob then sent the horrifying so-called
'happy slapping' video to pals. Triston, right, died a week after being
assaulted. Last night, his mother Siobhan said: "They call it happy
slapping, there is nothing happy about videoing a dying boy. People who
do this are fiends, monsters. "This evil has to be stopped and that's
why I want the News of the World to publish the photos." Drama student
Triston, 18, was felled by a blow from violent Gary Roper, whose pals filmed
the sickening aftermath. But even before his life had ebbed away, Roper's
sick pals began sending the shocking footage to their mates. The video was
shot in the entrance to flats in Romford, Essex, in January. It shows Triston
on his back with his arms above his head. Blood flows from the side of his
mouth and trickles down his cheek. Slowly, his left arm moves forward to
rest against his side and he tries to mumble some words. Divorcee Siobhan,
42, from Ilford, Essex, said: "It sounds like he was trying to say,
'Mum, mum.' but he couldn't get the word out properly." Triston had
been invited to Roper's 18th birthday party but the Old Bailey heard Roper
held a grudge against him since Triston had pinched his girlfriend's bum
a year earlier. Roper met Triston when he arrived at the flats where the
party was being held, and put his arm around him. Then he punched him in
the face, throwing him on to the concrete floor knocking him unconscious
while Roper callously went back to the celebrations. Triston was discovered
by a resident of the flats and rushed to St George's Hospital, Ilford, where
his mum and sister Olivia, 10, kept a bedside vigil. Five days later he
had recovered consciousness, but then suffered a massive heart attack and
died the following day, sparking a murder inquiry.
Two weeks after his death, Siobhan, right, received an urgent phone call
from police saying they had new information for her. The vile video had
been sent to one of Triston's friends and she called cops. They showed Siobhan
the tape. Roper, of Ilford, gave himself up and was charged with murder,
though this was later reduced to manslaughter. He was convicted following
a four-day trial at the Old Bailey earlier this month and was remanded in
custody waiting for sentencing
on September 9. After the trial, Siobhan said: "I would never want
any parents to go through what I've been through. "Triston was such
a cheeky chap. He was really into his rap music and was a promising drama
student. He couldn't wait to be on TV-that was his dream. He'll never fulfil
that now. "He was a real womaniser, and right up to the end in hospital
he would ask me if there were any nice young female nurses on duty. "But
most of all, he loved his mummy. Our final holiday to Tenerife, a week before
he was attacked was a Godsend. "We played indoor cricket when it rained,
and he bought me a cheap watch for my birthday. It doesn't work, but I will
treasure it for ever. "I'd rather remember him for that than the images
playing over and over in my mind. "How can any parent forget watching
their son so badly wounded? That will prey on my mind for ever." |
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