Plasterer hangs himself on Xmas Day… live in web video chatroom
A MAN hanged himself on Christmas Day in front of other users of an online video chatroom where people go to insult each other.
Gregory Tomkins killed himself as others who had logged on to the Apple Inc Insults chatroom watched on a webcam he had set up.
The chatroom encourages contributors to insult each other as much as possible.
Mr Tomkins, 39, a self- employed plasterer who lived in a flat in Wallington, South London, logged on early on Christmas Day, and within 30 seconds he had hanged himself.
Some chatroom users who live abroad have since spoken of their frustration at not being able to get in touch with police in the UK and of how users based in Britain ignored their requests to contact the police.
Mr Tomkins was eventually found dead by officers at 3.36am on Christmas Day.
‘ Insult’ chatrooms have become increasingly popular in recent times, while there are other chatrooms advocating suicide and serving those with severe depression.
Apple Inc Insults is one of the several rooms on video chat service Paltalk where users send abuse to each other.
Dr Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychologist based in New York, spoke out about the anonymity of such chatrooms.
‘There’s a freedom of speech without consequence,’ he said. ‘There’s no inhibition. It’s like being drunk.’
Cyberbullying can increasingly be found not only on such chatrooms but on message boards, Facebook and Twitter.
Yesterday one chatroom user – who asked not to be named – described how Mr Tomkins killed himself as others watched.
‘When he comes in the room he is always on the microphone and he talks,’ the user said.
‘Ignored requests to call police’
‘But this time he didn’t talk and he was just sitting there. After he left the room he cammed up, and that was when he did what he did.
‘It took him literally 30 seconds to go from sitting down to hanging.’
An administrator of the group wrote earlier this week: ‘As an admin in the room at the time this tragedy took place, the frustration of not being able to contact police because dialling 101 or 999 from a country outside the UK became immediately apparent.
‘By the time it took me to get a room member from the UK to contact 999, it was way too late. Sitting by watching people ignore requests to call police was truly futile.’
Another chatroom user, ‘Putin’, wrote online: ‘Gregory Tomkins was a funny man.
‘He did a lot of funny stuff in the chatroom but he also got upset a lot and would do silly things on his cam as well.
‘I just think he was very lonely as he had a difficult past which he spoke about a lot.
‘But he always meant well, you just were never sure what mood he was in when he entered the chatroom. I do not think an insult chatroom like this was the place for him.’
Mr Tomkins bought the flat where he died with his twin sister Emma in 2007 but is thought to have lived there alone. His parents, Ronald and Jane Tomkins, live in West Wickham, Kent.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Police were called at 3.36am on Monday, December 25, to an address in Wallington after concerns were raised for the welfare of an occupant.
‘Officers attended and a man was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious.’
For confidential support, go to www.samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123.