NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Death threats for UK teen who pelted granny with eggs

Daily Mail
3 Nov, 2018 06:54 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The UK teen was one of five who attacked the elderly woman. Photo / via Facebook

The UK teen was one of five who attacked the elderly woman. Photo / via Facebook

A teenage boy who pelted a disabled woman with eggs and flour before posting a celebratory photo of the attack online is now "too scared" to leave his UK home.

Cohan Semple, 18, said he's "struggling to go outside" after receiving death threats from strangers following the sickening attack on 49-year-old Janice Morris, the Daily Mail reported.

The teen was among five boys who targeted the vulnerable woman as she cowered on a park bench in the Suffolk market town of Bury St Edmunds.

An image showing them posing behind their victim, smiling and pointing at her sparked an online witch hunt after being posted on Snapchat and Facebook.

Semple is the only boy of the group to be named after turning 18 this week. The identities of the rest are being protected because of their age.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Speaking out yesterday, the teenager - who pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour -told Sun Online: "I'm struggling to leave the house at the moment. Since those pictures have gone on Facebook, I've had death threats from random people."

He went on to say he wasn't ready to apologise for the attack because of the threats he's received, the paper claims.

Ipswich Youth Court heard how Miss Morris was sat down on bench at the park in Bury St Edmunds beside a basketball court when she was approached by Semple and his friends.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They began asking her questions about drugs, before one of the boys, described as a "loose cannon", spat in her face.

Prosecutor Wayne Ablett told the court: "All of a sudden, a number of male youths appeared around her.

"They all approached her and started asking her questions regarding drugs.

"He (Semple) came from behind the bench and spat at her, with spit landing on her face.

"She said, 'What did you do that for?' She recalls the boy laughing at her, then spitting at her again."

The boys posed behind the woman and posted the image on social media. Photo / via Facebook
The boys posed behind the woman and posted the image on social media. Photo / via Facebook

The court heard how the group disappeared for around ten minutes, then returned with flour that they had purchased at a nearby shop.

Mr Ablett said: "These items were chucked at and thrown at her body, covering her completely in flour.

"The boys were still laughing. She was spat at again and one of them had taken a photo of her. She heard one of them say, 'We're filming it'."

He added that Ms Morris was "shocked" by what happened, and felt she couldn't return to the park.

A picture taken by Semple was posted on Snapchat, then a screenshot of the image was later posted on Facebook.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Ablett said: "Effectively the whole world can see the photograph, which is quite humiliating for the victim in this case."

The court heard how after being named on social media, the boys were arrested, with Semple being interviewed on July 28.

Mr Ablett said: "He agreed he was in the photo. When asked if he had taken the photo, he accepted he did."

The prosecutor told the court he uploaded it to Snapchat, then a "friend of a friend" posted it on Facebook.

Semple, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Declan Gallagher, defending Semple, said: "Cohan Semple took the photograph and put it on his own Snapchat. One of his circle then took a screenshot of that, then it went onto Facebook, then it went beyond."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Gallagher said the then 17-year-old, who was flanked by his parents in court, had been having difficulties over the last two years and was now back living with his family.

Four other boys, two aged 15, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12-month referral orders.

Presiding magistrate Simon Islett told the youths that they could easily be facing a custodial sentence if they were a few years older and in an adult court.

Instead as they were in a youth court, they were each given a 12 month referral order during separate hearings and ordered to pay £100 compensation to their victim, a £20 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

ICJ to deliver landmark climate ruling

World

Iran confirms fresh nuclear talks with European powers

Premium
World

What to know about the deadly violence near Gaza aid sites


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

ICJ to deliver landmark climate ruling
World

ICJ to deliver landmark climate ruling

The UN court's opinion could unify laws and impact global climate policies.

21 Jul 04:03 AM
Iran confirms fresh nuclear talks with European powers
World

Iran confirms fresh nuclear talks with European powers

21 Jul 03:46 AM
Premium
Premium
What to know about the deadly violence near Gaza aid sites
World

What to know about the deadly violence near Gaza aid sites

21 Jul 03:15 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP