Suicide victim ‘was encouraged by online bullies’
AMAN from Cardiff is reported to have committed suicide live on the internet after being encouraged by cyber-bullies.
The builder, 43, is alleged to have taken his own life on a live video stream on the website Paltalk in his Cardiff flat on Wednesday, July 25.
He is believed to be the third person from the UK to die on the social media site, where some users set up “insult rooms” to hurl abuse at each other.
The Mirror reported he had been encouraged to take his own life by bullies who said: “Why don’t you just do it? Your life isn’t worth it.”
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “We can confirm the sudden death of a 43-year-old man at a property on July 25.
“There are no suspicious circumstances. [His] next of kin have been informed.”
Paltalk is an American owned site which has 200 million users worldwide. It allows users to hold group video chats and browse thousands of live video streams.
Speaking of his death, an online friend from Paltalk told the Sunday People “he would still be alive” if it wasn’t for other users goading him.
“These chatrooms need to be shut down,” they said. “This is the third person to die. He would still be alive if it wasn’t for the vicious people who drove him to his death.
“He was a very funny guy. He was a character. He would do charades and impressions of people.
“He was just a lovely, fun, good person, such a gentle soul. What happened is so incredibly sad.”
The man was reportedly a member of a sub-forum on Paltalk where users shout abuse at each other.
However, one user said he moved chat rooms to escape trolls but they followed him and continued to hurl abuse.
Another user told the Western Mail how the victim had been on the website for several years, and using two different nicknames, set up socalled “insult rooms”.
This comes after Gregory Tomkins, 39, committed suicide on the site on Christmas Day last year.
The site saw its first British suicide in 2007. The coroner at the inquest of Kevin Whitrick, 42, of Wellington, Shropshire, then called for insult chat rooms to be banned.
■ For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. Visit www. samaritans.org for more details.