Social media bullies drove gifted pupil,14, to jump to his death
A SCHOOLBOY jumped to his death from the roof of a supermarket car park after being bullied relentlessly on social media for his good grades, his parents said yesterday.
Mark and Anita Abel believe their 14-year- old son Sam was cyberbullied on messaging apps before his death in January.
An inquest heard last month that Sam, who was pictured meeting Prince harry in the months before his death, had killed himself after sending text messages to friends about his depression and suicidal thoughts.
Yesterday the boy’s parents, from Warndon Villages, Worcester, said Sam’s death would ‘haunt them for the rest of their lives’.
They will never be able to see the messages sent to Sam over Snapchat – which deletes posts automatically after a few seconds – and Facebook Messenger, where they are encrypted.
Mr Abel, 50, said: ‘Snapchat messages only last seconds but when you’re getting those messages constantly, the seconds add up and they broke him down in the end.
‘It started as individuals but I think more people joined in with taunting him when it developed into cyber-bullying.
‘We will never know how serious those messages were because the police cannot get access to the messages due to encryption. It obviously got that bad that it pushed him over the edge.
‘It was online and offline and on and off the playground. Apart from spying on your children what else can you do?
‘A teenager’s life is their phone and no one talks like they used too.
‘If we had known about what he said to his friends, things may have been different but with them being so young they think they can’t breach that trust they have as a friend.’
Keen cyclist Sam had also been taunted by classmates on a school skiing trip, while bullies stole the bright teenager’s schoolbooks and even slashed his bicycle tyres.
Text messages from Sam’s phone showed he told classmates he had nearly killed himself on new Year’s eve, and had researched tall buildings in Worcester.
The Tudor Grange Academy pupil died after falling 30ft from the roof of an Asda car park in the city. he had told friends he wanted to die to ‘prove a point’ to the bullies.
Mr Abel, who is registered blind, said his son ‘suffered in silence’, keeping much of his torment to himself.
But the father said he and his wife, 47, had visited Sam’s school ‘several times’ because of the bullying, and had been told staff were acting on it.
The Abels, who also have a daughter, Sophie, said they realised the bullying had escalated when Sam rang home in tears during a school skiing trip to Austria the easter break before his death.
Mr Abel said: ‘It should of been the best trip of his life but he called us up every night crying, to the point that we wanted to bring him home. They would torment him in the dormitories at night, namecalling and playing pranks, pushing him.’
But in the months before his death, Sam had seemed much happier about school, where he was doing well.
he had started reviewing products for online shopping giant Amazon on YouTube.
Mrs Abel said: ‘ he loved school and loved learning. he just hated the people who were there. he taught himself a lot of things from the internet. We were looking forward to his exams next year. ‘But now we won’t get to see him go to his prom or have his first driving lesson.’ Sam met Prince harry in May last year in the US as former soldier Mr Abel, who went blind in 2011, competed in the royal’s Invictus Games for injured servicemen and women in Florida.
Mr Abel was taking part in swimming events, and the family met harry when the prince sat down next to them as they watched other competitors.
Mr Abel, who works as an NHS administrator, said: ‘he just appeared when we were watching the volleyball and sat down next to Sam and I, and started chatting. Sam was thrilled to have met a prince and it was great to see him happy for once.’
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to www.samaritans.org
‘They would torment him’