‘It can happen to any child’: parents of sextortion victim fight for justice

Ros and Mark Dowey, whose son Murray took his life after being duped by criminals online, are calling for higher awareness in schools as well as regulation of social media

• Teachers warned to be on lookout for victims of sextortion

It was a relaxed evening at home in Dunblane, near Stirling, a few days before the turn of the year. The Dowey family – Ros, Mark and their three sons – were watching television when talk turned to plans for the new year. Murray, 16 years old and their middle boy, chatted about saving up for a holiday to Marbella he was planning with his friends that summer. At about half past nine, he went up to his bedroom. It was the last timehis family saw him alive.

The next morning, Ros was preparing for a visit to friends in Glasgow. “I saw that Murray’s door was ajar with the light on,” she says. “I walked in and said ‘Are you up?’ and found him there.”