SICK TROLLS TARGET PAIGE’S MUM
Snapchat account in murdered girl’s name sends disgusting abuse to grieving family
VILE trolls set up a fake Snapchat account posing as murdered girl Paige Doherty – then used it to send abuse to her mum.
Police are investigating the sick posts.
SICK online trolls created a Snapchat account in the name of murdered schoolgirl Paige Doherty – then used it to send horrific abuse to her grieving mum.
Among the depraved messages sent to Pamela Munro was one that said her two-year-old daughter Penny should be raped and murdered.
Police Scotland have launched an investigation and have contacted the social media giant in a bid to find out who is behind the account, now disabled.
Paige was just 15 when she was killed by twisted John Leathem in his Clydebank deli in March 2016.
The 4ft 8in teenager was stabbed repeatedly as she fought bravely for her life.
Pamela, 36, who has set up a charity in Paige’s memory, said: “The messages are absolutely vile and what makes it worse is the fact that it was set up using my daughter’s name.
“They were sent to our charity page and I was shocked and horrified at the content.
“I just can’t understand why someone would want to do something so awful and use pictures of my children with horrendous messages across them.
“Every day of our lives, we have to deal with losing Paige and people who do this type of thing should think of the pain and hurt it causes grieving families.
“To hide behind a computer and send abuse of this kind is just callous, cruel and unacceptable.”
Pamela, also mum to Andrew, 13, Peyton, seven, and threeyear-old Lucas, is now calling for tougher laws to unmask and trace online trolls.
The Snapchat messages, too graphic to publish in full, target each of the children saying they should “kill themselves when they are older”, “get run over by a bus” and “be raped and murdered”.
They also mock Paige’s brutal death.
Pamela, from Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, said: “We reported it to police straight away and have been told they are investigating to try to discover who is behind the messages.
“I just hope these trolls are never in a position where they lose someone they love the way I did. There’s no need to target
families who are already going through so much. These people need to realise the impact they have and the damage they cause.
“It’s not only happening to us but to other people too and it has to stop. There needs to be strict laws against this type of behaviour introduced.
“It should be an offence punishable with the full force of the law.
“There have to be better ways of protecting victims of crime and their families and holding these trolls to account.” After burying her daughter and seeing twisted Leathem jailed for a minimum of 23 years, Pamela is determined to help others who have been robbed of a child.
She set up Paige’s Promise, a charity offering self-defence classes, grief counselling and short breaks for bereaved families.
Her selfless work saw her named Caring Hero at the Daily Record Our Heroes awards last year.
She added: “Paige was always thinking of others and she would be proud her charity is helping people. We want her memory to live on. By doing this we can help to make a difference in the lives of people who need help after the loss of a loved one.
“We’ve almost finished a memorial garden for Paige and it’s looking great. It’s somewhere we can go and think of the good times we had together. It’s a very peaceful place.
“We are also planning more events over the next few months, one in particular that will help men struggling to deal with grief and loss.”