The High Court has issued a landmark ruling to reopen the inquest into the death of 14-year-old Jools Sweeney, a schoolboy from Gloucestershire who died in April 2022. His mother, Ellen Roome, has long contended that his death was linked to the “blackout challenge” trending on TikTok at the time.
Ruling Details and Legal Precedent
In their decision, Lord Justice Warby and Mrs Justice Heather Williams ordered a fresh inquest to allow for the examination of social media evidence that was not considered in the original proceedings. Warby stated it was “now clear there are various potential lines of inquiry” that had been overlooked. This ruling is believed to be the first of its kind in England and Wales, where the lack of social media evidence was a primary ground for overturning a previous inquest.
The original inquest in 2022 lasted only 23 minutes and heard no oral evidence, nor did it examine social media data, which was unavailable at that time. The High Court also overturned those findings.
Mother’s Campaign and New Evidence
Ellen Roome, who wept in court as the ruling was read, said, “For more than four years, we have fought every single day for the truth about what happened to our beautiful son Jools. Today, the legal system has finally recognised that there are questions which deserve to be answered.” Roome had commissioned a private forensic analysis of Jools’s phone, which uncovered evidence not available to the original investigation. Her barrister, Harry Lambert, noted that evidence from Jools’s TikTok data was “highly probative of overuse or addiction.”
Roome’s advocacy also led to the creation of “Jools’ law,” which requires tech companies to automatically preserve a child’s online and social media data within five days of their death. This was enacted into the Crime and Policing Act on 29 April 2026.
Tech Company Response and Broader Implications
Anthony Jones, representing TikTok, stated that the company did not oppose Roome’s proposal and “could certainly see the force” for a new inquest. Gary Miller, a partner at Mishcon de Reya who instructed Lambert, commented, “Ellen’s case has exposed just how much change is needed to ensure that parents like her have greater opportunities and a voice from the opening of the coronial inquiry. Social media is integrated into the lives of young people, and the current investigative processes are not fit for purpose in this new world.”
Roome, along with four other bereaved British parents, is separately suing TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, in Delaware, US.
