A JUDGE has condemned television chiefs for broadcasting programmes which inspire copycat crimes.

District judge Bruce Morgan spoke after hearing evidence that one of the youths involved in the horrific abuse of Roger Winfield regularly watched the MTV show Jackass - which shows young people performing outrageous "stunts".

He was also told that members of the group involved in Mr Winfield's ordeal had in the past videoed themselves performing similar "pranks".

He singled out a video - called Bumfight - which showed homeless people being bribed with money and alcohol to perform horrific practical jokes.

Shot with a hand-held camera by graduate film makers to raise money for an independent feature, it sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the United States, but was condemned by homeless charities for plumbing the depths of bad taste and apparently exploiting its "stars".

District judge Morgan said: "It is beyond human comprehension that people can put on those kinds of programmes for people's entertainment".

Mr Winfield was a divorced man who was unemployed at the time of his death. He lived locally with his uncle and aunt, and was described in court as a man who took pride in his appearance.

His family said in a statement that he was a "lovely man who did not deserve what happened to him.

"No one's last hours should be documented like they were. He had many friends and was a very popular figure in the area, and will be sadly missed."

Detective Constable John Lintott told the court that it was important the truth of the case came out, saying speculation in the village as to what had happened to Mr Winfield continued to be rife.

District judge Morgan said: "Very rarely does one ever come before a court where a crime has been committed for the sole purpose of causing people happiness, pleasure or laughter.

"Anyone who saw this video can't help feel repulsion that he (Mr Winfield) was allowed to endure this simply so that some boys could have a laugh at his suffering. You can almost feel their joyful euphoria.

"Did anyone have a voice of kindness or reason? It was constant laughter and constant humiliation for hour after hour.

"Not one of them had the kindness in their heart to make an anonymous phone call to the ambulance or to police."

Comparing the degrading acts to the abuse of prisoners in Basra, he said it was shocking such offences could happen in a small Yorkshire village.

Jackass has become a cult hit on MTV and Channel 4, turning its foolhardy stuntmen into stars as they tackle ill-advised feats such as dunking their faces in buckets of stinging jellyfish, riding enraged bulls and wearing beards made of bees.

Its popularity spawned a movie in 2003, featuring even more extreme and tasteless stunts.

Updated: 10:04 Thursday, January 20, 2005