Tragis Hannah Smith's dad slams Government

THE FATHER of tragic teen Hannah Smith has slammed the Government for its silence on cyber bullying.

Dave Smith wants ministers to take over his lead on the issue so he can be left to mourn the loss of his 14-year-old daughter.

He told the Observer this week: "How many more teenagers must die before they do something?

"I'm a 45-year-old lorry driver who shouldn't be doing this on my own.

"It's now the government's job to take over.

"I've had so much support from all over the UK and the world but the government is not doing anything. Why?"

It comes after Mr Smith welcomed a report by website Ask.fm into how to deal with cyber bullying.

Daughter Hannah was found hanged earlier this month after being bullied by an anonymous user of the website.

On Friday she was laid to rest before 450 mourners - something Mr Smith described as "a heartbreaking moment".

Ask.fm bosses have pledged to hire more moderators and introduce new procedures including making a 'report' button more prominent, launching an advice website for parents and limiting the remit of anonymous users.

"They are going in the right direction," Mr Smith said.

"I still disagree with the fact you can use the website anonymously but they have made the website safe enough for children to use.

"Now they need to keep on top of it."

He added his main focus would now be pressuring government ministers to act and called on new legislation to be introduced to combat online bullying.

"There are people dying. Bullies are jumped on for doing it anywhere else - yet anyone can go online and bully whoever they like.

"David Cameron wrote to me but he didn't have a choice after all the media coverage. His letter was neither here nor there and I wasn't impressed.

"Laws need to be looked at and changed so they protect vulnerable teenagers because that's what teenagers are. They are going through so many changes and it's sad the government hasn't stepped up to the mark."

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