Debbie Duncan, the mother of Jay Slater, is intensifying her campaign for a new law to combat online trolls after her son's death sparked a wave of abuse and conspiracy theories. Jay, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, died after going missing in Tenerife last June, with his body discovered a month later in a ravine. An inquest ruled his death accidental, but online speculation has continued, prompting Ms Duncan to push for what she calls 'Jay's Law'.
Speaking to The Mirror, Ms Duncan described the abuse her family has endured, including accusations that she knew about her son's plans to sell drugs and that the GoFundMe campaign was fake. One content creator even suggested exhuming the body. 'It hurts. They don't know our family or anything about us, but they're allowed to say what they want,' she said.
Ms Duncan, backed by local Labour MP Sarah Smith, launched a parliamentary petition in September calling for better regulation of social media. The pair are now arranging a cross-party meeting of MPs and ministers to discuss implementing the law. MP Sarah Smith said: 'We can't keep allowing grieving families to become targets for abuse and lies every time a tragedy happens.'
The campaign coincides with a Channel 4 documentary, The Disappearance of Jay Slater, which examines the phenomenon of 'tragedy trolling' and highlights similar cases involving the families of Nicola Bulley and Madeleine McCann. Ms Duncan hopes the law will prevent other families from suffering further pain. The petition is available on the Parliament website.
