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‘Internet sickos tormented about my son’s death

When a loved one dies, the grief can be unbearable. But in a shocking new trend, bereaved families are being tormented by anonymous internet users – so they can gain kudos in a disgusting craze called “trolling.”

The twisted “game” is played by people nicknamed  “trolls,” who use social networking sites to ridicule others. But some trolls – “RIP trollers” – target those who’ve recently suffered bereavement, posting cruel messages and gruesome images on internet memorials for people who have died. 

The evil craze made headlines last month when Worcestershire schoolgirl Natasha MacBryde, 15, died under a train.

Friends created an internet tribute page so people could leave messages of condolence. But sick images were posted, and one troll referred to her as a “whore.” Someone even posted Natasha’s photo surrounded by comments including: “I caught the train to heaven. LOL.”

After the material was finally removed, Natasha’s father, Andrew, 47, said: “I simply cannot understand how or why these people get any enjoyment or satisfaction from making such disgraceful comments.”

Grieving parents Tracy Mullaney, 43, and Robert, 48, were horrified to discover an online memorial to their son, Thomas, 15, had been defaced by trolls after his suicide last May.

Tracy, from Birmingham, weeps: “Losing a child has left me feeling dead inside, yet trolls think it’s funny to mock my grief – it’s disgusting. People should be forced to register their real identities when they sign up to sites like Facebook so they can be traced and punished.”

Tracy’s grief was compounded when she later learnt her son had been a victim of Facebook bullying before his suicide.

“I never suspected he was being bullied – he was so self-assured and confident,” she says.

Tracy adds that Thomas had everything to live for – he’d just bought a season ticket to his beloved Birmingham City FC, and aspired to be a PE teacher.

But recalling the hours leading up to his death, she says: “Thomas had been involved in a spat at school and we had to go and collect him.”

Tracy and Robert had plans for the evening, so they decided to talk to Thomas later, but when they got home he wasn’t there.

“We assumed he’d gone to see his mates,” says Tracy.

But when Thomas hadn’t returned by the morning, they were frantic. Jaguar worker Robert went to the garden shed, thinking his son might be hiding there so he could sneak back in once his dad had gone to work – something he’d done before.

But horrifyingly, Robert found Thomas hanging dead in the shed. “At first I thought he was messing around, but his hand was frozen. My stomach lurched, and I nearly vomited,” he says.

Robert dialled 999 before breaking the tragic news to Tracy. She says: “I wanted to see him, but Robert held me back. Within minutes, police and paramedics were charging in. It was like it wasn’t really happening to me.”

Then Tracy had the awful task of telling elder son Ashley, 18.

“They’d been so close,” says Tracy. “I could hear the words, but I couldn’t believe I was saying them. Ashley has since become quiet and withdrawn.”

Messages poured in on tribute pages set up by friends, some referring to him being bullied – the first Tracy knew of it.  She says: “It was hard to believe. I thought he was strong enough to withstand that kind of thing.”

One devastated friend wrote:  “RIP Tom. I just hope those that drove you to this take a good look at themselves.”

But among the tributes, Robert discovered trolls had hijacked the memorial. Digitally altered pictures were posted of Thomas in a noose, with the caption: “Hang in there Tom.” Obscene sexual images also appeared. One post said:

“Why would you make an RIP page about someone that’s clearly a wimp?”

Robert posted messages begging the trolls to leave him to grieve in peace, but that only encouraged them. He says:

“The images were vile – they made me feel sick. I tried to remove them before Tracy could see them. I knew it would devastate her. It was like they gained kudos with other trolls if they got a reaction out of relatives. The images will always be in my nightmares.”

Tracy says: “It made me sick that they were getting kicks out of our grief. I can’t understand what motivates these cruel people, but they’re cowards for hiding their identities.”

Robert kept tabs on the site, reporting distressing posts that were mostly from a troll called “Pro Fessor” – the same alias who later targeted Natasha’s site.

Pro Fessor spoke anonymously to a newspaper last month. Shockingly, he revealed: “I despise people that feel the need to make RIP pages. It’s very funny to mock the dead. If I can make my friends laugh at the expense of a dead person, why not do it?”

Clinical psychologist Dr Funke Baffour compares trolls to gang members, saying: “Trolls are likely to be insecure individuals who compete to cause the worst harm to gain respect with the trolling ‘gang.’”

Research* into trolls has found they’re mostly educated men in their 20s and early 30s and that RIP trolling is just one part of a bigger trend that has its own language and jokes. Just like gang members who commit crimes, if a troll is traced, they can be prosecuted.

In October 2010, Colm Cross, 36, of Manchester, was jailed after posting offensive comments on a memorial page for Jade Goody and a tribute site to John Paul Massey, four, who was mauled to death by a dog.

And last week police were hunting a person who posted an offensive video about Jordan Cooper – who was stabbed to death in Tyne and Wear – on the internet two days after his death.

It featured pictures of him alongside images of a knife and a figure from horror film Scream.

A police spokesman revealed: “Police are working with site operators to have such content removed as quickly as possible and trace those responsible.”

Facebook monitors their site, but they don’t see every post made, which is why some are only taken down once they’ve been reported. A spokesperson says: “It’s against Facebook’s rules to intimidate or harass others or operate under a false name. Once a trolling account is reported to us, we analyse it to identify other suspicious profiles, allowing us to remove malicious profiles and material.”

Tracy says: “I struggle to cope on a daily basis because  senseless idiots who have no morals were allowed to torment me. It’s delayed the grieving process.”

Tracy hopes her story will raise awareness of trolling and force social networking sites to tighten their rules. She says: “I want to make sure other grieving parents don’t suffer in the same way.”

By Natalie Corp