Teenage Killers in Finland

[Vixen]

There have been shock waves throughout Finland over a murder of a 16-year-old schoolboy by his fellow classmates, three other 16-year-old boys. He was beaten to death 4 December 2020 on public grounds near a hospital in Koskela, Helsinki. The shock comes from the fact that the victim has been bullied by two of the same boys since primary school and by the other who more recently joined his high school class.

Interviews with his classmates and teachers revealed that they had all been aware of the bullying for a long time...yet nobody in this welfare state paradise, with a famed 'best education system in the world' plaudit, together with a much cited generous 'baby box' to all new mothers full of baby clothes, blankets and newborn accessories...stepped in once to stop it!

The victim is described as really well behaved, kind and submissive. So much so, that he had even once removed his glasses so that another boy could hit him in the head, whilst he was laying on a bench.

All four 16-year-olds are described as 'Finns' - presumably to make clear it is not a 'hate' crime.

The victim attended the 'birthday party' of one of the boys in a kind of park area. He was given extremely strong alcohol to drink and the other boys took it in turns to beat him and brutally degrade him by ripping his clothes. Two girls who passed by witnessed the boys and said they thought they they were 'very drunk or on drugs'. The boys deny murder, with which they are charged, claiming that it was just grievous bodily harm as they didn't intend to kill him. However, throughout the hours long beating, they recorded themselves on Snapchat and circulated the pictures. In one picture, next morning, after returning to the boy where he had been left, one of the teens is heard to say, I think he's dead. They even discuss what they should do with the body and whether to destroy it. A third boy claims he only went back once or twice to level a blow on the victim but was not present at the fatal end.

The trial is currently being held behind closed doors. Because of their age, the maximum sentence is between two to eight years, depending on whether they are found guilty of murder or a lesser charge. To American readers this will sound incredibly light, as compared to the USA. However, the victim's parents are demanding €12,000 each in damages, which is how most European courts operate: perps have to pay their victim compensation.

You can read about the case, here, on Wikipedia:

Prior to the homicide, suspects had robbed the victim in August 2020. In connection with the robbery, the victim was subjected to violence and deprived of property and money. The case was reported to the police in September. [4] The victim had also been beaten on several occasions by the suspects since the summer. [2] [5]

The victim and the perpetrators had celebrated one perpetrator's birthday in the vicinity of Koskela Hospital on Friday, December 4th. At some point in the evening, the three sons of the party had begun to beat the partially defenseless fourth son of the party. [6] Violence had taken place in various parts of the hospital area. [7] According to the police, the violence lasted up to 3-4 hours and was humiliating for the victim: the perpetrators had forced the victim to drink alcohol , as well as brutal violence on various parts of the victim's body and urination . [8] The suspects described their actions on their phones. [9] [10]Two of the perpetrators had visited the body the next day. The body was to be destroyed, but eventually the idea was abandoned. [11]

The victim's body had time to be at the scene of the killing over the weekend until Monday, December 7, when it was discovered by a builder who came to work. The body was partially naked when found. [12]

In February 2021, three 16-year-old boys were charged with murder , robbery , incitement to robbery and nine assaults

[Google Translated]

Experts are blaming the use of social media - sharing extreme video images - and there is a lot of fuss in the newspaper about the 78% increase in teenage violence over the last year.

 

[theprestige]

What I find interesting is that it seems like nobody - not parents, not educators, not sociologists, not regulators, not lawmakers - have any ******* clue how to deal with bullies.

The entire world seems to agree that the only real response to bullying is to just close your eyes and hope it doesn't get too bad.

 

[Thermal]

Slightly an aside, but three murdering psychos just happened to find each other in the same school? Sounds like they are not as rare as we often assume, and the bastards are everywhere. Maybe sitting near you right now. Maybe a few of them.

Also, 12k Euros for murdering a child? There's a bigger payout for a slip and fall in a commercial establishment in the States, paid out as a nuicance settlement to avoid the cost of litigation.

 

[rockinkt]

What I find interesting is that it seems like nobody - not parents, not educators, not sociologists, not regulators, not lawmakers - have any ******* clue how to deal with bullies.

The entire world seems to agree that the only real response to bullying is to just close your eyes and hope it doesn't get too bad.

They do know what works but are not willing to go the route of severe consequences for bullies.

 

[Vixen]

Slightly an aside, but three murdering psychos just happened to find each other in the same school? Sounds like they are not as rare as we often assume, and the bastards are everywhere. Maybe sitting near you right now. Maybe a few of them.

Also, 12k Euros for murdering a child? There's a bigger payout for a slip and fall in a commercial establishment in the States, paid out as a nuicance settlement to avoid the cost of litigation.

One of the bullies - the best friend from primary school - is said to be popular and well-liked. However, one of the other alleged killers is described as being a truly nasty character, aggressive, from a bad home, and is likely the ringleader.

 

[Norman Alexander]

There have been shock waves throughout Finland over a murder of a 16-year-old schoolboy by his fellow classmates, three other 16-year-old boys. He was beaten to death 4 December 2020 on public grounds near a hospital in Koskela, Helsinki. The shock comes from the fact that the victim has been bullied by two of the same boys since primary school and by the other who more recently joined his high school class.

Interviews with his classmates and teachers revealed that they had all been aware of the bullying for a long time...yet nobody in this welfare state paradise, with a famed 'best education system in the world' plaudit, together with a much cited generous 'baby box' to all new mothers full of baby clothes, blankets and newborn accessories...stepped in once to stop it!
The victim is described as really well behaved, kind and submissive. So much so, that he had even once removed his glasses so that another boy could hit him in the head, whilst he was laying on a bench.

All four 16-year-olds are described as 'Finns' - presumably to make clear it is not a 'hate' crime.

The victim attended the 'birthday party' of one of the boys in a kind of park area. He was given extremely strong alcohol to drink and the other boys took it in turns to beat him and brutally degrade him by ripping his clothes. Two girls who passed by witnessed the boys and said they thought they they were 'very drunk or on drugs'. The boys deny murder, with which they are charged, claiming that it was just grievous bodily harm as they didn't intend to kill him. However, throughout the hours long beating, they recorded themselves on Snapchat and circulated the pictures. In one picture, next morning, after returning to the boy where he had been left, one of the teens is heard to say, I think he's dead. They even discuss what they should do with the body and whether to destroy it. A third boy claims he only went back once or twice to level a blow on the victim but was not present at the fatal end.

The trial is currently being held behind closed doors. Because of their age, the maximum sentence is between two to eight years, depending on whether they are found guilty of murder or a lesser charge. To American readers this will sound incredibly light, as compared to the USA. However, the victim's parents are demanding €12,000 each in damages, which is how most European courts operate: perps have to pay their victim compensation.

You can read about the case, here, on Wikipedia:

[Google Translated]

Experts are blaming the use of social media - sharing extreme video images - and there is a lot of fuss in the newspaper about the 78% increase in teenage violence over the last year.

Not quite sure what a welfare state has to do with this. It's typical teenage human bullying behaviour world-wide for a few ******** to beat up on "weaker" kids. Often communities tend to see this as "usual" and "part of growing up", like the drinking and riding motorcycles into traffic.

 

[Vixen]

Not quite sure what a welfare state has to do with this. It's typical teenage human bullying behaviour world-wide for a few ******** to beat up on "weaker" kids. Often communities tend to see this as "usual" and "part of growing up", like the drinking and riding motorcycles into traffic.

The thing about this teen is that he was in the care of child social services. His parents had sent him to an 'orphanage' in Helsinki because he had some kind of mental health issue and suffered badly from depression and mild delinquency. One of the bullies is actually known to the parents as he used to go round there to play together.

The orphanage he was staying at didn't even report him missing until the Tuesday (died Friday, found Monday by a builder).

 

[smartcooky]

What I find interesting is that it seems like nobody - not parents, not educators, not sociologists, not regulators, not lawmakers - have any ******* clue how to deal with bullies.

The entire world seems to agree that the only real response to bullying is to just close your eyes and hope it doesn't get too bad.

I have a method for dealing with bullies, but it is very unpopular with many. When my sister was being bullied at school, I found out about it. He was well known as the school bully, and he pretty much picked on kids that were smaller than himself.

Well, I cornered the little bastard when he was trying to force my sister out into a busy street to get past him as she tried to walk home, and I gave him a hiding he would not soon forget. I warned him that if he so much as looked at my sister again, I would be around with a few schoolmates and we would finish the job.

That was 50 years ago, I was 15 my sister was 11, and that action would probably not go down well these days. It was, however, effective. Not only did he never bother sis again, he stopped being the school bully - lesson learned the hard way.

 

[Major Major]

What I find interesting is that it seems like nobody - not parents, not educators, not sociologists, not regulators, not lawmakers - have any ******* clue how to deal with bullies.

The entire world seems to agree that the only real response to bullying is to just close your eyes and hope it doesn't get too bad.

There's always Bullies2Buddies.

 

[Vixen]

The suspects are named as Veeti Neramo, Heikki Juutinen and Alexis Koskivaara (pictured). There was a fourth boy, who seems to have had the charges dropped. According to the charge sheet, Juutinen appears to be identified by the police as the lead aggressor.

Alexis' mother is an English and Swedish teacher.

Veeti's stepfather had a baby six years ago with his mother, Inka Neramo.

The victim is named as Atso Liuhanen.

Case adjourned until early March. Now in camera because it was thought the suspects might be inhibited from giving evidence freely in the presence of the public and the press, despite the prosecutor arguing that the case was of public interest and should be publicised as plainly as possible.

 

[zooterkin]

I have a method for dealing with bullies, but it is very unpopular with many. When my sister was being bullied at school, I found out about it. He was well known as the school bully, and he pretty much picked on kids that were smaller than himself.

Well, I cornered the little bastard when he was trying to force my sister out into a busy street to get past him as she tried to walk home, and I gave him a hiding he would not soon forget. I warned him that if he so much as looked at my sister again, I would be around with a few schoolmates and we would finish the job.

That was 50 years ago, I was 15 my sister was 11, and that action would probably not go down well these days. It was, however, effective. Not only did he never bother sis again, he stopped being the school bully - lesson learned the hard way.

That's right! The way to teach people that threatening people with violence is wrong is to threaten them with violence.

 

[RolandRat]

I have a method for dealing with bullies, but it is very unpopular with many. When my sister was being bullied at school, I found out about it. He was well known as the school bully, and he pretty much picked on kids that were smaller than himself.

Well, I cornered the little bastard when he was trying to force my sister out into a busy street to get past him as she tried to walk home, and I gave him a hiding he would not soon forget. I warned him that if he so much as looked at my sister again, I would be around with a few schoolmates and we would finish the job.

That was 50 years ago, I was 15 my sister was 11, and that action would probably not go down well these days. It was, however, effective. Not only did he never bother sis again, he stopped being the school bully - lesson learned the hard way.

I would be willing to bet that a hell of a lot of people being bullied do not have an older sibling or someone that could step in and defend them like that.

 

[theprestige]

I have a method for dealing with bullies, but it is very unpopular with many. When my sister was being bullied at school, I found out about it. He was well known as the school bully, and he pretty much picked on kids that were smaller than himself.

Well, I cornered the little bastard when he was trying to force my sister out into a busy street to get past him as she tried to walk home, and I gave him a hiding he would not soon forget. I warned him that if he so much as looked at my sister again, I would be around with a few schoolmates and we would finish the job.

That was 50 years ago, I was 15 my sister was 11, and that action would probably not go down well these days. It was, however, effective. Not only did he never bother sis again, he stopped being the school bully - lesson learned the hard way.

Exactly my point. We get these apocryphal anecdotes here and there. But somehow the world's sociologists, educators, and regulators can't figure out how to make your solution into policy.

Also your solution sounds a little too good to be true. Not all bullies are gonna be cured by a simple threat. And not all victims have a guardian who can threaten their bully.

I'm more interested in your explanation for why there is a worldwide inability to handle bullies systemically.

 

[gnome]

That's right! The way to teach people that threatening people with violence is wrong is to threaten them with violence.

I wish that insight could be universalized--I believe as much as anyone that violence often begets violence, and should be used only as a last resort.

However I also believe there are some cases where the perpetrators cannot be taught a thing and the only remedy is to protect threatened victims as best you can, and specifically by making sure that the bully knows that initiating an attack is dangerous for themselves.

 

[Vixen]

Exactly my point. We get these apocryphal anecdotes here and there. But somehow the world's sociologists, educators, and regulators can't figure out how to make your solution into policy.

Also your solution sounds a little too good to be true. Not all bullies are gonna be cured by a simple threat. And not all victims have a guardian who can threaten their bully.

I'm more interested in your explanation for why there is a worldwide inability to handle bullies systemically.

The Interior Minister for Finland, Maria Ohisalo (Green) is now going to bring out some kind of law.

Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (Green) says that she is deeply shocked by the homicide in Koskela, Helsinki , which involved a 16-year-old boy and three suspected boys of the same age. Ohisalo describes the act as shocking social peace.

- This should by no means happen in the welfare state. I have to ask what drives people to do such a shocking act. I extend my condolences to the relatives of the victim.

According to Ohisalo, in today’s society, many are doing better than ever before. At the same time, some are experiencing very serious problems.

- Bullying is, in the worst cases, a very criminal activity. We have already discussed this among ministers, and an action plan against loneliness and bullying is being prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Invest in multi-professional cooperation
Ohisalo says police resources have been steadily declining over the past decade until 2017.

- Now we have strengthened preventive and preventive work, a concrete example of which is the Anchor activity. Here, the police work in collaboration with social services, schools, youth work and health work.

YLE

It does sound like the 'we take this matter very seriously' -type of word salad we have come to expect any time there is a scandal anywhere.

Does youth work work? Heikki Juutinen is/was actually a youth footballer with KäPa
a Third Division professional Finnish Football Club, modelled on the English football league structure. One would have thought that sufficiently glamourous for a 16-year-old boy. A bright future ahead of him thrown away. There is little doubt of the boys' involvement, the only question is whether it is murder or a lesser verdict.

 

[Tero]

In my years of school, both US and Finland, I was only beaten once when I was 15. I got a bloody lip when two of the class bullies, both Jukka, ganged up on me on way home.

I went to high school for a few months on the North side of Chicago. I was very careful walking home, but I did see some gang activity. The school had no books, one teacher wrote the daily lesson on the board and we copied it. Luckily my dad's job moved to the suburbs then, so he was only happy to move us out, rent a rather plain apartment near Elmhurst. I had to use the school bus one semester. Back then the cliques were greasers and climbers. The greasers had the tough look, and interfered with people sitting on the bus seats, ordering them around. Freshman class. They would be the first to get cars, crappy ones, so that was that. I never saw them in any class.

But thinking back, the Finnish school was typical suburban school in East Helsinki. There was always a bit of violence in the school yard. The bullies had to be punished with an hour of sitting after school at the desk at least once a month. 1969.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

All four 16-year-olds are described as 'Finns' - presumably to make clear it is not a 'hate' crime.

Perhaps I'm misreading this, but you seem awfully disappointed that it turned out the perpetrators were white.

 

[Tero]

It's just typical language the papers use. When the race or nationality of the people is NOT mentioned, the nationalists can then simply assume it was foreigners.

 

[Tero]

I would be willing to bet that a hell of a lot of people being bullied do not have an older sibling or someone that could step in and defend them like that.

That also is the tried and true method world wide. The older sibling always walked the younger home. I saw this in my Chicago 8th grade school. The few black kids in the school did that. I, as an only child, had to be very talkative on the way home from school and tag along with any small group for the first few blocks to see what the situation was that day.

 

[timhau]

What I find interesting is that it seems like nobody - not parents, not educators, not sociologists, not regulators, not lawmakers - have any ******* clue how to deal with bullies.

The entire world seems to agree that the only real response to bullying is to just close your eyes and hope it doesn't get too bad.

Actually, my understanding is that we actually can and do do a lot to reduce bullying. It's just that what we do works very poorly with a) kids whose parents don't give a damn and b) ing psychos. Nobody really has a clue how to deal with ing psychos.

And Vixen, did we really need the names and pictures of everyone involved?