Man admits telling woman to kill herself online

A man has admitted urging a vulnerable woman he met online to kill herself and to seriously self-harm.

Tyler Webb is the first person in the country to be charged with encouraging serious self-harm online under Section 184 of the Online Safety Act 2023.

The 22-year-old, of King Street in Loughborough, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday via videolink from a mental health facility to admit one count of encouraging suicide and one count of encouraging or assisting someone to seriously self-harm.

He is due to be sentenced on 4 July.

Webb sat with his head on a table and was flanked by family members throughout the 15-minute hearing before running out of the room and not returning.

The court was not told any details of Webb's offending, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he used the Telegram video app to repeatedly tell the vulnerable woman, who cannot be named, to harm herself, and then to kill herself during a video call so he could watch.

He told her she had nothing to live for and gave her methods to end her life, they said.

Alex Johnson, a specialist crown prosecutor in the special crime division of the CPS, said: "Webb contacted a vulnerable woman online and encouraged her to commit serious self-harm and to end her life.

"He knew she was vulnerable and would act on his requests but went ahead with his persistent requests knowing she may well die.

"Fortunately, his repeated and insistent suggestions did not result in a death."

On one occasion, the CPS said the woman followed his instructions while on a video call to him, and on another harmed herself after being encouraged to do so by Webb, and sent him a photograph of her injury.

During a 44-minute call on 2 July last year, Webb made persistent efforts to get her to end her own life, and when it became apparent she would not do so, he said he would block further contact with her.

She reported what had happened to police and he was arrested at his home in Leicestershire.

Following Webb's admission, Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation - set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life after viewing thousands of images promoting suicide and self-harm - called for tougher online regulation to stop others carrying out similar offences.

"Webb's horrific crimes are part of a growing trend where vulnerable girls and women are being coerced into self-harm and suicide attempts online," he said in a statement.

"While new offences in the Online Safety Act helped secure Webb's conviction, the reality is that Ofcom's regulation of tech companies is failing to prevent the increasing threat of similar offences from taking place.

"The government must now step in with stronger online safety laws that can effectively tackle these sadistic crimes and protect vulnerable young people online."

If you've been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.