16-year-old boy sentenced after targeting girls online in 'self-harm campaign'

A 16-year-old boy has been sentenced after targeting girls online and encouraging them to hurt themselves in a "self-harm campaign".

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was aged 14 at the time of the offences, which lasted more than a year.

He instructed his victims, who were primarily teenage girls, to carve his online username into their bodies and send them images which he saved, the CPS said.

He pleaded guilty to encouraging self-harm earlier this year.

The boy was later convicted of downloading indecent images of children following a trial at Southampton Youth Court.

He was sentenced on Monday to an 18-month Youth Rehabilitation Order, with requirements forbidding him from accessing Discord, Telegram and any other browsers to access the dark web, the CPS said.

The teenager is also banned from accessing other social media platforms unless supervised by an adult or for educational purposes. He will not be allowed to access devices after 10pm.

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Officers also seized an Xbox from his address after he used it to access the accounts linked to his offences while on bail.

"This defendant deliberately hid behind an online identity to manipulate and harm vulnerable people," senior prosecutor Lauren McConnell said on Monday.

"The prosecution proved that he encouraged others into self‑harm over a 16-month period, whilst also downloading indecent images of children, causing serious harm through his online abuse.

"This case underlines that crimes committed online can be just as damaging as those committed offline, and the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute those who misuse the internet to exploit and harm others."

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