My son, 14, died in online challenge gone wrong but it’ll cost me £86k to find out why – I’m BLOCKED from his account
A MUM has shared how her 14-year-old son died following an online challenge gone wrong – but she’s still searching for answers.
Ellen Roome has been blocked from her son’s social media accounts, and says it will cost her £86,000 to finally know the truth.
The heartbroken 48-year-old found her son, Jools Sweeney, dead in his room in April 2022.
She had spoken to him on the phone that evening, with his final words being: “Love you.”
But mystery remains regarding the circumstances of Jools’ death – with a coroner unable to conclusively rule that he had died by suicide during his inquest.
It was stated that it could not be proved that the teenager had been in a “suicidal mood”.
Ellen, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, believes that Jools was involved in an online challenge that went wrong, resulting his death.
However, the devastated mum cannot be sure what happened to her son as, under current law, parents are not entitled to get full access to social media data following a suspicious death.
She is now crowdfunding for the £86,000 sum, in the hope of applying to the High Court for a second inquest into Jools’ death.
Speaking to The Independent this week, Ellen said she believed that social media content can be detrimental to children.
She said: “In light of what’s happened, I’ve learned an awful lot about online activity that I was very naive about before.
“I thought Jools was merrily watching silly dance videos, or harmless challenges like standing on your hands and pulling your t-shirt upside down. I now know there’s masses of harmful and illegal content.”
She added that she had experienced varying levels of success with different social media companies in trying to access her son’s data.
She said Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, had handed over the most data – including Jools’ browsing history and messages.
However, this was only after initial requests went unanswered, prompting an apology from the company, she has claimed.
A spokesperson said at the time: “We are in touch directly with Ms Roome and will cooperate fully with any law enforcement investigation, including responding to any data requests.”
Meanwhile, Snapchat has sent Ellen the messages that would have been visible in Jools’ account – but all other messages have been deleted from the app’s server and are no longer available, the Sun understands.
While TikTok has been the only platform to arrange a meeting with Ellen, a senior staff member has confirmed it no longer has access to Jools’ search history.
This is because it is required under law to delete personal data that is not needed in the running of the business, according to the company.
NSPCC online safety support
EXPERTS from the children's safeguarding charity have provided resources and advice to help support parents and children navigating the online world.
If your child asks you a question you don’t know the answer to, or speaks to you about a negative experience they had online, here are some of things you could do:
- Visit the NSPCC online safety hub: nspcc.org.uk/onlinesafety.
- Call the NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000 to speak to an advisor.
- Ask another parent.
- Speak to your child’s teacher.
- If your child needs more support, they can contact Childline: childline.org.uk.
A request by the police can override this law, but no such request was submitted until 2024 by which stage the data had been deleted, they added.
As well as the crowdfunder, Ellen has also launched a petition to change online safety law.
The proposed Jools’ Law would see parents get full access to their children’s social media accounts.
MPs met to debate the petition, which was launched in May 2024, on Monday this week.
On the website dedicated to the petition, Ellen said: “It is time for change.
“I am determined to continue this fight for transparency and safety in the digital space so no other family has to endure the pain we have suffered.”
Speaking on BBC Breakfast this week, she added: “I want to know why a seemingly normal happy child with no mental health [problems] decided to end his life.
“I can’t sit and just accept I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”
TikTok and Snapchat declined to comment further on the case.
The Sun has also approached Meta for comment.