What just happened in Newington Green?

Not sure what your getting with the mental health issues, its pretty clear all of the happy slappers in the article i posted were in a sane state of mind, hence it being the 6th occasion. There is something wrong when a group of people from a certain background feel its acceptable to beat an old man to death infront of an infant, with no reason whatsoever. Something that doesn't link to socio-economic background, or a lack of chances / resources / opportunities for education.

Its a cultural problem endemic to the areas with this "gang mentality". The kind of culture and mentality that makes people think they deserve a living from others and that their problems are someone else's to solve.
Poverty in the UK is tough without a doubt, but nowhere near as tough as in other poorer countries, where people will work to survive and have respect for their fellow humans.

Its embarrassing to think that in this day an age everyone is the victim.

Very often there are mental health issues involved. Doing something repeatedly doesn't make it the act of a sane individual. It can take a single charismatic and persuasive individual, with disorders based around a failure of empathy, to whip vulnerable peers into a frenzy of antisocial behaviour. And this vulnerability (if they're not also mental) could be defined as a lack of empathy bred out of having no role models/economic hope/rewarding morality/perceived equality (if living in a less privileged social stratum, but with awareness of other strata who 'have it easy').

Fuck me, I'm working class, and it takes a lot of energy not to fly into a resentful rage and start smashing things up, as I have people's wealth and power shoved in my face on a daily basis due to living in the inner city. Of course there are greater extremes of poverty elsewhere, but you have to look at all the contributing factors in any given context. The UK's disenfranchised population are poor relative to national averages, let alone the super-affluent, and are continually bombarded with messages about the kind of luxury lifestyle they should be aspiring to. It's enough to drive people mad, and often does.

I'm not condoning these violent attacks. But you have to remember that we don't all have equal resources (financial/educational/psychological) to 'help ourselves'. I can, up to a point, thanks to being fairly bright - it's my main survival utility - and like countless others, I "work to survive, and have respect for my fellow humans" as you put it. But I can think of many times I might've been completely fucked if I hadn't have had that gift. And I've often relied heavily on the help of others, much as I've tried to get by just helping myself.