Mother wins fresh fight for inquest following death of son, 14, who took part in social media ‘blackout challenge’
Ellen Roome has long fought for justice after her son, Jools, was found dead in his bedroom in 2022.
The mother of a 14-year-old boy who died after taking part in an online challenge has won the fight for a fresh inquest into the death of her son, in landmark ruling on children's social media data.
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Ellen Roome, from Cheltenham, found her son, Jools Sweeney, 14, unconscious in his bedroom in April 2022 after taking part in an online challenge gone wrong.
On Thursday, the High Court of England and Wales ordered a fresh inquest into his death to allow previously omitted social media evidence to be examined.
It came to light that some online activity was not analysed because data had not been gathered from his phone.
However, since the original inquest, new powers have come into effect enabling coroners to request that Ofcom, the regulator of social media platforms in the UK, collect data that may be relevant to investigating a child’s death.
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The ruling was secured following a four-year campaign, as Jools' parents battled to find out what happened to their son in the hours before his death.
Jools’ family has long campaigned for justice, insisting that social media has always played a role in his death.
The first inquest lasted just 23 minutes before it was quashed at the High Court.
Today's ruling is believed to be the first of its kind in England and Wales where one of the key grounds in overturning the previous inquest was the total absence of any social media evidence which would have enabled the coroner to examine the role social media may have played.
Lord Justice Warby and Mrs Justice Heather Williams KC quashed the findings of Jools' original 2022 inquest findings, with a fresh inquest ordered so that the full circumstances of his death can now be examined.
During a conversation with Nick Ferrari on LBC’s Online Safety Day, however, Ms Roome lamented the “incredibly frustrating” 13-week wait for a decision from the Attorney General’s Office.
“I want to know why my 14-year-old son isn’t alive,” she explained to Nick. “While there’s a law that I could use to possibly get answers, then I want to try it.
"We have to apply to the High Court, but then I can use the new Data (Use and Access) Act to demand social media companies release that data... but I'm still waiting for the Attorney General to respond, and that's incredibly frustrating.”
After the interview, LBC sent enquiries to the Attorney General’s Office, including a question about whether her request had reached Lord Hermer’s desk.
Within 48 hours of LBC’s final query, Ms Roome received a letter from the Solicitor General, Ellie Reeves, confirming that the fiat - the authorisation from the Attorney General’s Office which allows the family to apply for a new inquest - had been granted.