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Suicide Webcast: No Charges Filed
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by Jordan Yerman | May 26, 2007 at 08:47 am
1810 views | 11 Recommendations | 1 comment
When Kevin Whitrick, dealing with a divorce, the death of his father and injuries from a car accident, hung himself in front of a webcam, other chatroom users' reactions spanned from calling 999 (emergency line in the UK) to egging him on; many believed the act to be a hoax. Police have declined to press charges against any of the viewers.
Chatroom users who watched a man apparently commit suicide over the internet will not face charges, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.Kevin Whitrick, 42, of Wellington, Shropshire, broadcast his death over the internet in March.
The father-of-two was found hanged after suffering from severe depression for several years.
The CPS said comments made by chatroom users at the time did not amount to a criminal offence.
A spokesman said in a statement: "This is a tragic case which resulted in the untimely death of Kevin Whitrick.
"We examined all the evidence passed to us by the police and have concluded that none of the comments made in the chatroom amounted to a criminal offence.
Kevin Whitrick logged on to an internet chat room and announced that he was going to commit suicide. He then switched on his webcam, stood on a chair, smashed through his ceiling to expose a joist, tied a rope around his neck and hanged himself.
Several visitors to the site thought that it was a hoax and egged him on, but one dialled 999. By the time police arrived at his flat, he was dead. The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain.
Friends of the 42-year-old electrical engineer said that he had become lonely and depressed since splitting from his wife and had started drinking heavily. He had also suffered serious injuries in a car accident last year and was distraught at the loss of his father, who had died from a heart attack.
Mr Whitrick is believed to have set up a chat room, Kels Friendly Chat, at paltalk.com and was logged on with about 50 other users to an “insult” chat room where people “have a go at each other”.
Visitors to the site said that they thought he was joking when he told them of his suicide plan. One said: “He tied a rope around an uncovered ceiling joist and stood on the chair as he tied the rope around his neck. Some of us chat-room users, talking to Kevin over text chat, microphones and video, tried to convince him to stop, but others egged him on, telling him to get on with it.
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Recommendations (11)
Anonymous user
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 09:20 on May 26th, 2007
This is so disturbing. The deceptive, perceived closeness yet, at the same time the true anonimity of all of us who use this medium, seems to cry out for some type of protocol for situations like this when they may arise. Minimally, if acts of this nature are viewed by others, maybe the rule should be to believe it is real and avoid encouraging the person's actions.
I know alerting authorities is a sticky issue when we use the internet. I recall an incident where others online in a chat room knew of child abuse being perpetrated by one of the group and because of the affinity within the group, no one reported the abuse of the child.
Two different realities with both circumstances needing to be addressed. Thanks for posting.