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Dad's anger at tragic teenage daughter's online hell

THE dad of a school girl who killed herself after being bullied online said the people in charge of a controversial website should be prosecuted.

Hannah Smith was found hanged at her home on Central Avenue in Lutterworth on Friday.

Dad Dave told The Observer he later found a string of abusive messages posted on the 14-year-old's profile page on social network website ask.fm, where people seek advice for problems, and others telling her to kill herself.

"She was a bright, happy, energetic young lady, and we just did not see this coming," Mr Smith told us.

"She was changing school in September and was looking forward to a fresh start and I just don't know what happened. She had said nothing. She hid everything.

"Had she told me what was happening, had she said to me 'Dad, I'm being bullied', she knows what the reaction would have been.

"I would have said no more. I would have banned her from using the computer and taken her phone off her, it's what any parent would have wanted to do, but you can't do that can you?

"They want to be on these websites because all their friends are."

Hannah had just finished at Lutterworth High School and was due to start at Lutterworth College in September.

She had worked for The Observer, delivering papers form December last year right up until the day before she died.

An e-petition had been set up calling for tighter controls on social network sites.

Nine young people are understood to have been driven to kill themselves as a result of abuse on ask.fm.

Mr Smith said Hannah's school had written to all parents advising them to not allow their children to use ask.fm because of concerns over it.

He added: "You can write something and be anonymous. You can say what you like to other people.

"You can't block people or it's hard to do and that should not be allowed. You have to accept it or come off it.

"Hannah was only 14-years-old, yet from the messages I saw were very abusive. They told her to die. One message said 'die, die, die, die, die'.

"The people who created and run this website know what the problems are and they are not doing anything about it.

"They are using teens to make money, millions of pounds, and yet these teens are dying as a result of the actions of these people. In my eyes they should be done for murder or manslaughter."

A Leicestershire Police spokesman said: "We were called to an address in Lutterworth at around 6.45am on Friday August 2, following a report of a body being found at the location.

"The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner. Identification of the deceased is a matter for the coroner.”

Nora Parker, head teacher at Lutterworth High School, said governors, staff and students were deeply shocked and saddened.

"Hannah, who just completed her final year at the school and was looking to transfer to Lutterworth College in August, was a bright, bubbly, popular and thoughtful girl who was liked and respected by all those she came into contact with.

"Everyone who knew Hannah is shattered by this tragedy and trying to come to terms with the enormity of what has happened.

"Our heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to all Hannah’s family and friends at this terribly sad time."

A spokesman for ask.fm told us: "Hannah Smith's death is a true tragedy; we would like to convey our deepest condolences to her family and friends.

"We have reached out to the Leicestershire police and would be happy to cooperate with their investigation in to the true circumstances of her suicide.

"Ask.fm actively encourages our users and their parents to report any incidences of bullying, either by using the in-site reporting button, or via our contact page.

"All reports are read by our team of moderators to ensure that genuine concerns are heard and acted upon immediately - and we always remove content reported to us that violates our terms of service."

Editor's comment: The thought school girl Hannah Smith felt she had no other option to evade the cyber bullies than to take her own life is incomprehensible.

The world has changed so much that such a desperate action even crossed the mind of one so young let alone be carried out. The dangers of modern life are increasing and we hear time and time again that such tragic events such never happen again, but they do.

Restrictions can be placed on website operators and guidelines can be introduced, but sometimes authorities can do nothing other than expect human beings not to become so full of hate that they drive other human beings to take such desperate measures.

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