Mum fears son, 14, died in social media problem gone flawed – now she has one request

A mum whose 14-year-old son died in unclear circumstances has pleaded with MPs to back a change in the law to help her find answers about his death.

Ellen Roome believes her child Jools Sweeney may have died after a social media challenge went wrong but has been blocked by tech firms from accessing his accounts. She told MPs she was now fighting “for the right to possible answers as to why my son is no longer alive”.

Politicians on Monday discussed Ms Roome’s petition calling for bereaved parents to have the right to access their children’s social media accounts under a proposed “Jools’ Law”. The petition was debated in Parliament after attracting more than 126,000 signatures.

Jools was found unconscious in his bedroom in April 2022. An inquest into his death later found he took his own life. The coroner said it was unlikely he intended to do so but that the precise details were unclear. Ms Roome has spent the years since fighting to get access to his social media accounts.

In a statement which was read by Labour MP Lola McEvoy, Ms Roome told the debate: “As a parent, I feel I should morally and humanely have the right to that date to give me possible answers as there was nothing offline which seemed to be an issue to Jools. As a member of the bereaved families for Online Safety Group, I represent many other families in the same awful situation and I want to try for answers as to why their precious children are no longer alive.

“If this had been your child, you would want answers too. I don’t want any other family to be in this hideous position which will forever affect us all, our family, Jools’s friends, his teachers, everyone in Jools’s life and their families forever.” Ms Roome also criticised that it would cost her up to £86,000 to apply to the High Court for a second inquest into his death.

Ms McEvoy added: “It is simply wrong that information that may offer clarity and peace to parents facing a new reality without their child is denied. It is simply wrong that parents who are living in that unenviable reality now face the colossal emotional and financial burden of a second inquest to discover if the information exists at all.”

MPs from across parties paid tribute to Ms Roome’s campaigning. Her local Lib Dem MP in Cheltenham Max Wilkinson said Ms Roome “found herself blocked by a legal system unable to tackle the complexities of social media and blocked by obstructive social media giants who placed a process ahead of compassion”.

He thanked his constituent, adding: “The heartache and devastation she has endured is unimaginable for the rest of us, but Ellen has turned her grief into something that is positive and could be even more positive for this country and other parents. Having watched her campaign so tirelessly and provided support where I can for these past few months, I am immensely proud of what she has achieved.”

Labour MP Lewis Atkinson, a member of the Petitions Committee who opened the debate, said he was “impatient “ with online services to take “proper responsibility for what our children see”. He warned: “Social media companies must not shy away from the responsibilities to protect children, either because of misguided free speech concerns or indeed out of concerns about their levels of profit.”

Tech minister Feryal Clark admitted the Online Safety Act was not a “perfect piece of legislation”, adding that “the delay in delivering it has come at a heartbreaking cost”. She said it included provisions about “additional duties on categorised services to be transparent with parents regarding a company’s data disclosure processes following the death of a child”.

“We have also been clear that we plan to build on the Online Safety Act, where it doesn’t go far enough,” she told MPs. The challenge of keeping our children safe is a fast-moving world and it’s one that we all share, government, social media platforms, parents and society at large. As we try and find the solutions, we are committed to working together and continuing these conversations around access to data in the event of the tragic death of a child.”

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