Police close violent stunt website run by teenager

Jul 31 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

INTERNET website YouTube is at the centre of a police crackdown after a Wirral teenager uploaded videos showing youngsters performing dangerous and violent stunts.

Officers have already shut down a website called Live Now Die Later run by 18-year-old Michael Davies from Rock Ferry, which hosted similar footage, amid fears they could influence other children to film copycat stunts.

Last night Lancashire Police revealed it had had a further five videos which it says Mr Davies posted, removed from the video sharing website YouTube.

But last night similar videos bearing the Live Now Die Later (LNDL) label were still available on the website, including footage filmed on mobile phones of teenagers setting each other on fire and jumping off garage roofs into conifer trees.

Others show children throwing themselves down stairs, stapling their skin, slapping each other across the face, and apparently forcing a homeless man to drink alcohol.

In one, a teenager appears to break his arm after jumping from a high wall, in another a youngster poses with a defibrillator which he mimics delivering an electric shock, beside a hospital bed.

The Home Office states it can be illegal to upload violent footage on to the internet, but to date no-one has been prosecuted for such an offence.

Angel Holland, a spokesperson for Wirral group Parentline Plus, last night called for increased security measures to control footage on websites.

She said: “We are all very worried about what we can do as parents to stop our children getting involved in this ever-popular trend and to help them escape the peer pressure which is often the reason they take part in such activities.

Police said currently no criminal charges were to be brought against Mr Davies, You Tube must now comply with their request to remove the footage which they say is not only having a “negative influence on society” but is also breaching the company’s own code of conduct.

Inspector Andrea Bradbury, of Lancashire Police, was responsible for the closure of the LNDL website, which was blamed for a number of incidents in the North West, including one where 11-year-old Joe Armstrong suffered horrendous burns after being set on fire during a filmed stunt.

Insp Bradbury has liaised with Lancashire police’s Computer Crime Unit and has written to the legal compliance team at Google,owners of YouTube, about the clips.

“I asked them to review footage on their website that are concerned with young people and I identified a number of items I deemed to be inappropriate. We are still looking at footage to see whether it is illegal,” she said.

“I have spoken to Michael and he’s apologetic and he realises he’s broken the code of conduct.

“However, websites like this must be a lot more pro-active and scan their own sites.

“Footage like this just encourages children to get involved in violent and inappropriate behaviour. “It doesn’t show young people in a good light and is having such a negative influence on society.

“Michael Davies is a very competent young man and it would be so much better to see him put his excellent skills to better use.”

YouTube says it does not employ anyone to police what goes on the site and instead relies on users to “flag up” any inappropriate content.

The site claims pre-screening content is a form of censorship which is not the role of a private company. “Sadly, as with any form of communication, there is a tiny minority of people who try to break the rules,” a spokesman said.

But Deputy Chief Constable Brian Moore, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said it was the responsibility of internet companies to search their sites for videos of violence and crime and to pass on details to police.

He said: “They are responsible for what is on their products. They are making a profit from this.”