Chatroom users \'goaded man in web suicide\'
 

This is a sickening story.


From The Daily Telegraph

A coroner yesterday called for "insult chatrooms" to be regulated after members of one site encouraged a man to commit suicide while dozens watched live over the internet.

Kevin Whitrick, 42, had a history of depression

Kevin Whitrick, 42, tied an electrical cord around a ceiling joist and wrapped one end around his neck before hanging himself.

He is believed to be the first person in Britain to take his life publicly on the internet.

Detectives discovered that some chatroom users had been "egging on" Mr Whitrick and thought he was joking when he said he was going to kill himself.

Between 40 and 60 people were logged on to the site, called Kel's Friendly Insult Chatroom for Everyone, at the time Mr Whitrick died on March 21, but only one alerted police.

Officers forced their way into Mr Whitrick's flat in Wellington, Shropshire, but despite attempts at resuscitation he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Michael Gwynne, the Telford and Wrekin coroner, recorded a verdict that he had taken his life as it was broadcast over the internet on a webcam.

He told the hearing: "Here is a person who, on the face of it, had been hanging himself in front of other people who are watching and only one of these possible people are so concerned as to make contact with the police.

"It's the sort of site where people seem to enjoy getting verbally abused and having degrading things said.

"That to my mind is exactly what these people are like. They must be extremely inadequate to have that sort of relationship.

"It seems to me that the death of Kevin Whitrick should not be allowed to pass without someone trying to see whether it's possible to prevent chatrooms of this nature being on the internet. I am all for communications, but it does seem to me in this instance that abuse, threats of physical injury are not normal within everyday relationships.

"Thought ought to be given on how such chatrooms can be regulated. I don't have the answer."

Mr Whitrick, an electrician, had a history of depression and had attempted suicide in 2003 after he and his wife Paula, with whom he had 12-year-old twins, separated.

He became a "troubled man" who was badly injured in a car crash eight months before his death and had also been deeply affected by the recent death of his father.

The inquest heard that Mr Whitrick had contacted the site's owner, Kel Buckingham, to tell him that he was going to kill himself on camera.

As the event unfolded, Mr Buckingham's voice could be heard over the speaker saying: "This is serious, someone call the police, get his address."

Soon afterwards the webcam feed was stopped by the site's moderators.

Det Sgt Mark Bellamy, of Shropshire police, told the hearing that a user called Carole Vickers raised the alarm.

He said: "She saw Kevin wrapping a noose around his neck and she made desperate efforts to talk him out of it.

"This is that first case that I am aware of in the UK where somebody committed suicide over the internet."

In a statement, Miss Vickers said that other users had goaded Mr Whitrick to kill himself and as his body swung from the noose, one mocked: "He's not dead, he's still twitching."

Mr Buckingham did not attend the inquest at Telford, which was told that he no longer runs the chatroom.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Whitrick's elder brother, Malcolm, said that he did not think chatrooms had played a part in his brother's death, but he felt they should still be monitored.


Original article here


What do you think os this? I find it horrendous. Chat rooms like this should be shut down. I didn't even know they existed. What do you think of people who join chat rooms solely to insult people. It's all rather pathetic and sick if you aske me. Discuss.........

OMG! Thats horrible!!
whoever said "Hes not dead, hes still twitching" they are sick in he head

What in the world?! Why would someone create a chatroom like that?! People are really sick in the head...

I feel for this man's family and I hurt for him knowing that he couldn't seek the help/love he truly needed.

Omg thats horrible, why would people goad him on.
Good for the person who talked him out of it.

They didn't Ruth. He killed himself. Read it again.

that is so extreme!

Oh i meant tried to talk him out of it, i was typing so fast i forgot a few words.

Oh ok.

Wonder how many of them, in the backs of their tiny little minds couldn't equate it to being more than a TV show ?

Assisting suicide is a criminal offence - goading is surely assisting suicide, the UK based users should be brought to book.

Yes i agree what a sick website who on earth wants to view this morbid site?:devil::devil:

Did this happen a few months ago? Because I remember reading a story like this and I think it's the same guy, he announced in a chatroom that he was going to kill himself and that's when the other users started "goading" him into doing it, while some other users took him seriously and tried to tell him not to. Obviously they weren't taking him seriously and didn't think he would do it, but it was still awful to do that and I'm sure it's something that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Yeah, Wasted, I remember reading about this a few months ago too :)

I can remember that being on my local news last year, I live not too far away from Telford.

That is pretty grim reading.

I do believe it happened in March.

I think it is quite common for to people act differently online than they would in real life, and often it is by being more aggressive. They say things to other online users that they would never say face-to-face.

I definitely think that a lot of people hide behind the anonymity that message boards / chatrooms etc. offer.

Yes, and I agree to an extent, but as to go so far as to goad a man into killing himself? That is just sick. It is wrong, and this should not be tolerated. This just highlights how vile these chat rooms are and what they can do to a mentally unstable person.

I agree Baz, there is developing an online alter ego then there is just plain nastiness. I wonder how these people sleep at night.

I often wonder what people are really like, especially those who are full of themselves, I wonder if they are actually really shy and wouldnt say boo to a goose and use the anonymity of the net to feel better about themselves.

This is a truly tragic story Baz and higlights the reasons behind why sites/chat rooms need to be moderated.

Why would someoe ever want to do that? And infront of so many people. They mustn't have been very sane.

It would have been so disturbing for some witnesses to watch.

The guy had mental problems, and people throwing insults at him, and ridiculing him sent him over the edge, though why he went in the chatroom in the first place I do not know. Other people in that chat room will have been left emotionally scarred by this. So they should ask themselves. "Was it all really worth it"? Some peoples meaning of "fun" leaves a lot to be desired sometimes.

wonder which site it was.....

I remember this on the News a few months back (if it's the same one I'm thinking of)

It is disgusting that some people out there act like that. How horrible, do these people actually have hearts?? And what makes me annoyed is you just so know that if this was one of their familty members or one of their friends they it would be a different story. How sick are them people, they should be ashamed of theirsevels

All I can say is, what goes around, comes around.