THE family of Facebook murder victim Katie Wynter have spoken of their “living hell” to warn about the dangers of social networking sites.
Katie, a talented young art student, was duped into dating twisted loner Tony Bushby after he created FOUR fake Facebook profiles.
His phoney friends all got to know the shy, church-going 19-year-old online and the messages he sent pretending to be them persuaded her to trust and like him.
Chillingly, at the same time, karate teacher Bushby was
also watching violent “submissive black girl” Indecency and molestation
websites and Googling murder methods for burying a body.
Six
months after he convinced her to go out with him, Bushby killed Katie,
stabbing her 23 times in a frenzied knife attack while she babysat her
young nephew and niece then tried to pin it on one of his fake Facebook
friends.
Her grief-stricken mum Joy Briscoe warns:
“Facebook is a dangerous thing, especially for young girls. As a parent,
you don’t know what your child is getting up to.
“I wish I’d kept a closer watch on her. You just expect your kids to be safe in your own home.”
It is a year since Katie’s funeral, but for support worker Joy, 57, and her elder daughter Sabrina, 31, their pain is still raw.
The
brutal murder took place in Sabrina’s home in Borehamwood, Herts, where
Katie was staying overnight to babysit her niece and nephew, then aged
four and five.
Joy went round to check all was OK and walked into a bloodbath.
She says: “I could hear the children chattering. I called out their names and they ran to the door.
They were shouting, ‘Grandma, Katie’s dead’. My heart dropped into my stomach.
“Then I saw bloody footprints and, poking out from under the door frame, were Katie’s feet.
“I
ran into the kitchen and was confronted by something like out of a
horror film — my little girl, covered in blood. I tried to lift her but
she was already cold and stiff.”
As police arrived Joy
called Sabrina to break the terrible news. Sabrina, who has asked that
her children are not named, says: “They still talk about it. It hurts so
much to think of them carrying this image of their auntie in their
heads. My daughter still draws pictures of Katie covered in red.
“I hope the memories of what they saw will fade one day — they remember it so vividly.”
Katie
had met Bushby, 19, at West Hertfordshire College in Watford, but their
relationship developed online. He was in the year above and considered
an outsider. After he had gained her trust through his Facebook lies,
they started secretly dating in June 2011.
Joy had her
suspicions about Bushby from the first time she saw him with Katie. She
says: “His eyes were glazed. I had this horrible gut feeling about him.
He seemed strange, anti-social.”
Sabrina adds: “He was her first boyfriend so I thought she’d be excited to talk about him. But she would shrug off any question.
“We imagine she was told to keep quiet about their relationship. He wanted to cover his tracks.”
They
believe Bushby planned to kill Katie on December 23, but because she
had told Sabrina she was meeting him, he changed his mind. Instead he
bombarded her with texts and Facebook messages over Christmas, then
stabbed her to death on Boxing Day. In court, Bushby initially claimed
the killer was Dan Tress — one of his fake Facebook friends along with
Cyn Darwin, Shane Pleuon and Krystal Stanguard. But police confirmed all
the profiles were his.
Bushby was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder at St Albans Crown Court in July last year.
For the family, losing Katie is a heartache they feel daily.
Sabrina says: “We will never forgive him. He’s not just robbed us of Katie, he’s destroyed us all as well.
“He’s taken her life, but he’s claiming all of ours. We’re living on earth through hell.”
Joy
adds: “We need to speak out to make sure that social media crimes like
this stop. Parents need to be more aware of what their children are
doing online.
“If we can save one life, then at least something positive can come out of this tragedy.”
I
do not think the campaign on Facebook ban will ever succeed and i do
not even think it is necessary rather i will suggest people become more
careful and especially girls. people should be weary of relationships
with strangers on social networks
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