'It absolutely broke me': Jay Slater's mum demands new law against tragedy trolling after facing 'horrific' online abuse
Jay died last summer after attempting a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out in Tenerife
The mother of Jay Slater, who died after going missing in Tenerife last summer, has told LBC she "didn't know people could be so cruel" as she stepped up her campaign for a new law to tackle online trolls after facing a wave of abuse.
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Debbie Duncan is being backed by her local MP in calling for "Jay's Law" to stop the same abuse for grieving families that her family have suffered.
Her 19-year-old son, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out on the holiday island last summer.
A huge search was launched after he was reported missing on June 18, and his body was found by a mountain rescue team almost a month later in the steep and inaccessible Juan Lopez ravine, on July 15.
His disappearance sparked a massive manhunt and a host of conspiracy theories about his death.
Speaking to LBC, Ms Duncan revealed how some even speculated that she was to blame.
"I've been scared to say anything. It's like a big horrible thing around the GoFundMe, that that was all a fake and that Jay was going to reappear... It absolutely broke me as a person," said.
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Ms Duncan added that she has also been sent horrific images of Jay "being tortured" and other manipulated photos, including images of bodies with people asking if it was Jay.
She said: "We ourselves were questioning it to begin with... I was just horrifying.
"It was very nasty. I just think 'what has happened with humanity? How can you sit there and accuse a mother of being involved with their son's death?"
An inquest last year concluded his death from head injuries was an accident after he lost his footing and fell in a ravine - but the conspiracy theories continue online.
Ms Duncan is calling for a new law to better regulate social media, launching an official Parliamentary petition calling for a new "Jay's Law".
She has been backed bySarah Smith, her local MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden
The two women are now working together to convene a cross-party meeting of MPs and ministers to discuss how Jay's Law can be brought forward.
The campaign comes as a Channel 4 documentary examines the problem of "tragedy trolling".
Called The Disappearance of Jay Slater, it shows how Nicola Bulley and the McCann families have also been targeted by online speculation and trolls.
The petition for "Jay's Law" can be signed at here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/742843