A UK teenager who kicked an elderly man into a river then ran away laughing while filming it all on Snapchat has been jailed for 10 weeks.
Benjamin Bridgeman, 19, booted the 74-year-old into the ice-cold River Mersey in Warrington as he took a break from his walk on April 25, reports Metro UK.
Bridgeman and an unnamed 16-year-old boy ran away from the river laughing and uploaded footage of the attack to Snapchat alongside a sequence of laughing emojis.
The victim was only rescued from the water after two 14-year-old schoolgirls heard him yelling for help. Khloe Woods and Ellie Hughes formed a human chain to pull the man, who was just managing to keep his head above water, out of the river.
In court, Bridgemen pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £500 (NZ$989.66) in compensation to the victim.
Judge Nicholas Sanders said the offence was "extremely serious" and the video shared to social media was "frankly sickening".
The court heard how the victim was pushed "very hard" from behind while out for his walk causing him to fall into the river and hit his face on "something".
The river was "really cold" and the victim said he felt "really shocked". At first, he didn't tell his wife about being pushed for fear of upsetting her but eventually revealed the details of the attack to her.
In a statement, he said he was "lucky to be alive" and has "changed personality" following the brutal hit.
According to Metro UK, Bridgeman was heard outside court saying he was "very sorry" and that he didn't realise the victim was elderly.
The 16-year-old who filmed the attack was earlier sentenced to a 12-month youth referral order and was also ordered to pay £500 (NZ$989.66).
