Father's plea on online bullying after daughter's death
The father of a teenager who died after receiving a torrent of online abuse has called on the Prime Minister to tackle the issue of online bullying to prevent another tragedy.
ITV News' Juliet Bremner reports:
Hannah Smith, 14, is understood to have killed herself after being subjected to abusive messages on social network website ask.fm, which allows users to send messages to one another without disclosing their identity.
Read: What to do if you are being cyber-bullied
David Smith, who reportedly found cruel taunts directed at Hannah, said he had lost his daughter in the most "horrendous way imaginable":
The company at the centre of the controversy, ask.fm, said they would help with the police investigation, insisting that they openly encourage users to report incidences of bullying.
Read: Ask.fm: Death of Hannah Smith is a 'true tragedy'
The Government insisted that they were working with providers to make the internet safer after the "tragic" death of the schoolgirl.
Hannah Smith's headteacher paid tribute to the 14-year-old describing her as a "bright, bubbly, popular and thoughtful girl" who had "everything to live for".
A Facebook page set up in Hannah's memory attracted over 45,000 likes with many posting photos and videos of her and leaving messages of condolence.
The NSPCC said the wider issue of cyber-bullying must be "tackled before it gets out of hand".
The campaign group BeatBullying revealed that one in three young people are cyber-bullied.
Labour MP Stella Creasy, who herself was the victim of abuse and threats on Twitter, called on the Prime Minister to work with social networking companies to ensure all users are protected online.