Are People Really This Stupid?

Imagine lying on a couch on your 17th birthday after a full day of partying and celebration.....

Now imagine yourself a few hours later running through the house on fire, literally.

It probably wouldn't be a pretty picture, right?  Well... Matt-Dillon Shannon of New Zealand begs to differ.   He thought it would be a wonderful gift idea to douse his friend with gasoline and set him on fire.  That's right, he allegedly poured gasoline over his friend and set him aflame.  Of course this is his story...

"We were just sitting in the lounge and all of a sudden somebody's running through on fire".

"I didn't see it happen, he was in my bedroom and came running into the lounge," [Shannon] told the newspaper.

The partygoers panicked and tried to put out the fire, which had flames jumping above Hayden's shoulders, catching the bottom of his hair, he said.

Shannon's friend, Hayden Calder, left the house with serious burns to his back neck and spent a week in a local hospital recovering from his injuries. Well no shit!  Are people really this stupid?  Unbelievable! What kind of person would do this to a 16-yr-old, and much less a friend?  This poor kid now has to endure the pain and humiliation of being physically and emotionally scarred for the rest of his life. I hope he gets through this okay. 

Shannon, on the other hand, has been charged with "wounding with intent to cause grevious bodily harm."  Eye for an eye, maybe??? Geez.