Murdered boy must report fake account himself, says Instagram

INSTAGRAM told the sister of a murdered teenager that the 14-year-old would have to make a complaint himself for a new profile set up by trolls in his name to be removed.

The family of Breck Bednar have condemned Instagram for ignoring their pleas to ban the account for almost a month after it was discovered by Breck’s 17-year-old sister.

The account, which garnered more than 50 followers, had a mocking biography that read: “I am a 14-year-old gamer that owns a $2million Bitcoin company although I am currently deceased.”

Instagram took the account down after being contacted by The Telegraph.

Lorin Lafave, Breck’s mother, said the episode had left her daughter “desperately upset” and called for the new duty-of-care regulator to have powers forcing social media giants to properly identify their users.

Recounting the moment she learned of the account, Ms Lafave said: “She [her daughter] met me at the train station … and the first thing she said was, ‘Mum, I have to show you this,’ and she was desperately upset. I was just shocked, as I can’t imagine creating profiles of dead people is normal. It is shocking, what people use social media platforms for.”

When Breck’s sister complained using Instagram’s impersonation form, she was told the person being impersonated needed to make the complaint.

Instagram said it has a separate procedure for issues relating to deceased relatives.

Breck, from Caterham, Surrey, was groomed while playing video games by then 18-year-old Lewis Daynes, who lured him to his flat and stabbed him to death in 2014.

Daynes was sentenced to life with a minimum of 25 years in 2015 – but managed to taunt Ms Lafave from prison via two blog posts he published.

The Instagram account is the latest online torment after the same sister was contacted earlier this year on Snapchat by someone purporting to be Daynes, who recounted the murder in graphic detail and threatened to desecrate Breck’s grave.

Kent Police were initially hampered investigating the messages after Snapchat refused to hand over the account’s details, saying they were prohibited by US law. However, it was forced to release them after the issue was raised in Parliament, prompting Sajid Javid, then home secretary, to intervene.

Yesterday, Kent Police said they had arrested a 20-year-old man from Croydon. He has since been released as inquiries continue.

Instagram declined The Telegraph’s request for comment.