UK - Bullies torment girl, 15, with "death" of fake Facebook boyfriend

Callous teenagers used Facebook to trick a schoolgirl into believing she had an online boyfriend – then lied that he had committed suicide and accused her of being responsible.

In an elaborate case of cyber-bullying, the two 16-year-old girls hatched the plot following a row with their victim. They created a bogus Facebook profile of a fictional boy they called Jaydon Rothwell, using a random picture of a teenager.

They used it to send messages to the 15-year-old, convincing her they were forming a relationship.

Then they posted a comment on ‘his’ page from another girl. When the victim challenged ‘Jaydon’ she received the horrifying news he had killed himself after being dumped.

The girls created the Facebook page ‘RIP Jaydon Rothwell’ which attracted 2,000 members. The victim was then targeted with abusive calls blaming her for the tragedy.
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Today the girl, from Blackburn, said: “I cried because I was shocked, gutted and scared.

"I was grieving for someone who wasn’t real and felt I had been so gullible.”
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Sgt Paul Schofield said: “These two girls created this ‘legend’ using a handsome fellow and playing a silly game trying to hurt the other girl with this ‘relationship’.

“When all is said and done this is online bullying. Social networking is a fantastic tool, but it can be misused by a small percentage of people.”
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Schofield, who led the investigation, said youngsters and parents had to be aware of the dangers of cyber bullying.

He said: “It was a prank which went very wrong and snowballed out of control.
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“This could have been so much worse because there was a real possibility she could have reacted to the news of his suicide. ---

much more at http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.u...ook_bullying_victim_receives_apology/?ref=rss

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