A mother of her murdered son said she “had to be sedated” after finding out about the crime that took his life away. In 2014, an English-American teenager Breck Bednar, then 15, was brutally killed by a gaming predator Lewis Daynes, after luring him to his Essex flat and fatally stabbing him. In a twisted move, Daynes traumatised Breck’s friends and fellow gamers by sending sick photographs of Breck’s body as he attempted to paint his crime as an accident. Over years, Daynes, then 19, targeted Bednar in an online gaming group. The internet predator had been hellbent on separating kind, studious Breck from his family had found insidious ways to reach him.
Michigan-born Lorin grew suspicious of British man Daynes, whose inconsistent backstory, refusal to show his face, and controlling behaviour raised concerns. He often tested her son on US current affairs despite frequently getting the answers wrong himself. As he isolated and bullied the boys, Lorin feared her son was being groomed, possibly for sexual abuse or even extremist influence. She noticed changes in Breck, who was encouraged to stop going to church and quit the Air Cadets – activities he had once enjoyed.
The day when Breck didn’t return home, his mother called his friends.
Panicked, Lorin, now 59, phoned Breck’s friends, telling The Mirror: “I knew something was wrong because their voices sounded weird. And the reason their voices sound weird is that they already knew that Lewis Daynes had killed my son. And they were trying not to be the ones to tell me.”
After learning about his death, Lorin, from Deal, Kent, recalled: “I couldn’t stop screaming, and I had to be sedated. It was just the worst possible thing that could happen to any parent.”
Lorin, who now runs the Breck Foundation, met with Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the announcement of the teen social media ban and is urging the incoming PM to stick to their predecessor’s promise to protect youngsters.
She said: “My biggest hope for our future is that the new Prime Minister really understands the issues children face online, and continues to push for safety, including safer laws, choosing children over big tech, and making sure that children’s rights and safety come first.
“If predators online can get to a boy with a family who loved him, did well at school, had friends, was nice looking, and had a whole future ahead of him, online predators can get to anyone.
“If predators online can get to a boy with a family who loved him, did well at school, had friends, was nice looking, and had a whole future ahead of him, online predators can get to anyone.”
In January 2015, Daynes was sentenced to a minimum term of 25 years.
Mrs Justice Cox stated: “I’m sure that this murder was driven by sadistic or sexual motivation.”