Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent

Parents criticise ‘unforgivable’ delays by Meta in son’s sextortion death case

Close up of Murray Dowey with a wide smile
Murray Dowey, 16, died last December at his family home in Dunblane. Photograph: Dowey family

The mother of a 16-year-old boy who killed himself after being blackmailed on Instagram has criticised the platform’s owner, Meta, for “unforgivable” delays in releasing data that was key to the police investigation into her son’s death.

Murray Dowey died last December at his family home in Dunblane, Scotland. His parents, Ros and Mark, say they believe he was tricked into sending intimate pictures to an Instagram contact, who he thought was a girl his own age but turned out to be overseas criminals involved in financially motivated sexual extortion – known as “sextortion”.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.