Every Parent’s Worse Nightmare: Breck Brednar | Hashtag Homicide | Forensic Files

[audio logo] David McClelland: Social media is a huge part of where interactions
take place for young people. However, a lot of these technologies, I feel, are the double-edged sword.
Danny Shaw: I think this case was a wake-up call for everyone about the dangers of the online world,
online contact, online communication, and gaming in particular. Alysia Judge: The majority of people
have really healthy and happy relationships with gaming. But on the fringes of video games,
there are these malicious individuals who will take people outside of gaming to more private spaces.
Lorin LaFave: I'm worried that Breck and the boys are being groomed by someone they're gaming with online.
And everyone's response, oh, don't worry. They're all online with strangers now.
That's the norm. David McClelland: The warning signs are changes in your child's behavior.
Baroness Beeban Kidron: Are they being secretive? Are they spending loads of time in their room by themselves?
- They communicated through the channel called TeamSpeak. Lorin LaFave: He was being inundated by this predator.
Steve Keogh: So she took away his means of communicating with him. Lorin LaFave: Unfortunately, it made
it more dangerous because it all went underground. I didn't recognize even how evil some people can be myself.
[theme music] 999 operator: [on phone] Essex police emergency. Lewis Daynes: [on phone] Hi, there.
I need police and a forensics team to my address, please. 999 operator: [on phone] What do you mean?
Lewis Daynes: [on phone] My friend and I got into an altercation, and I'm the only one
who came out alive. Lorin LaFave: I grew up in Michigan and then had the opportunity to move to London in 1997.
When I decided with my ex-husband now we wanted to try to have a family, it took us four years to have Breck, my first child.
Finally, my dream came true and he was a dream baby. We took him everywhere, and we just really enjoyed it.
And two years later, we actually had triplets. We hit the bonus. And Breck was a great big brother.
He was helpful and he taught them things. And he was always sort of my right hand man.
He was clever, and probably all moms think that. But he was sort of labeled boy wonder from an early age
because he could just put things together. And he almost looked at puzzles and how things worked in a different way
than I did and then I saw other people. He would just imagine how they worked. He loved all the sciences because that just
fit right into it, and computing and technology. We were living in Surrey, and it was nice because we
could walk to school together. I even started working at the children's school. Breck just started getting more and
more interested into computing and programming, and that was where the friends he made at school, the ones who
were the more science guys. And they actually did have a great sense of humor together.
And they invited him into a new gaming group when he was 13 years old. Alysia Judge: The majority of people
have really healthy and happy relationships with gaming. It's likely that your friends, your colleagues, your family,
out of all of them, someone within there will play video games. In an online game, the developers create a world.
And that world is yours to explore with your friends. These online gaming spaces are the new malls,
they're the new play parks. The majority of people come to video games, and they have really great experiences.
But on the fringes of video games, there are these malicious individuals attracted to it precisely because it is popular.
And these malicious individuals will take people outside of gaming to more private spaces.
And in those cases, it's not video games that are the problem. It's the individuals that will predate
upon people within that space and try to remove them. Danny Shaw: Breck Bednar began gaming online.
A number of friends of Breck's were also playing these games online. They communicated through the channel called TeamSpeak.
Lorin LaFave: To me, that felt safe because it was with friends from school who I had known since they were young.
You know, I never imagined that it would be anything other than those friends playing together.
[video game sounds] At home, I would listen to what was happening on the computer, which was mostly in sort of shared areas,
and doors were open. And I literally, when he was 13 years old, noticed that there was an older sounding
voice within the gaming group. And immediately, it didn't feel natural, and I was worried as a mom.
And when I questioned Breck, he said, oh, that's-- you know, that's just Lewis. He runs the server.
He's the best gamer. He's so clever. He's teaching us everything. And I was like, oh, well, how do you know him?
And, oh, the boys have been gaming with him for years. Richard Whittam KC: They became acquainted through gaming
online in the groups-- in a particular group that was all run by Lewis Daynes. He controlled all the members of the group
and would take away privileges and definitely control their contribution. - You could tell who was the boss.
- The best way to think of a gaming server is it's a space where you go to play a video game.
And there can be public spaces and there can be private spaces. When you play on a public server,
you're playing lots of people with set rules. The thing with private servers is that if you're entering that space of someone
who has bad intent, then actually you're entering their domain. narrator: Breck Bednar enters a private server owned
by fellow gamer Lewis Daynes. Lorin LaFave: Immediately it went through my head,
is this really a 17-year-old, as Breck claims, or could it be somebody catfishing, pretending
to be something they're not? Even though I worked part time at school, my full time job was being a mom.
And so I did feel like I knew what was happening with the children. And I could hear this older-sounding voice
speaking with Breck right in my own house, and it did worry me. I made the effort to try to get to know all of the boys
within the gaming group. I'd say, hey, you know, hey, guys. What's going on? And they weren't really used to it,
so the ones that knew Breck and the ones that knew me kind of clammed up and went quiet.
But the person I didn't know, Lewis, would be chatty. Hey, mom. How are you doing?
We'd talk about the weather, what was going on. Breck had told me he lived in New York City.
So, of course, growing up in the United States, I was interested how is that English boy
living at 17 years old, already in another country? And so I would ask questions, and it was all
very pleasant at that point. But what I noticed is I never felt like Lewis had real stories about what
was going on in New York City. He was always on our time zone in England. I never felt like he was on a different time zone.
When I would talk to Breck about it, he'd say, oh, that's because he works his own hours, Mom.
He's his own boss. He works for this government agency. Breck wasn't stupid but, obviously, didn't recognize
the evil in the world. So the stories didn't add up to me, but the more that I tried to convince Breck, the more
that Lewis tried to make it feel as if I was a mean mom, that I was judgmental, that I didn't
understand computing and technology, that I didn't want the best for Breck. Literally one of the signs of grooming
was this turning a child away from their parents, and he was trying to make out as if I was the bad guy.
David McClelland: Online manipulation and grooming can be a very slow and subtle process,
but some of the warning signs as a parent are changes in your child's behavior, withdrawing from friends, withdrawing from family.
Baroness Beeban Kidron: Has your child had a big mood change? Are they being secretive?
Are they spending loads of time in their room by themselves? Is there a certain anxiety about it?
Do they talk about a particular person who you've never met? There are things you can say as clues,
and I have to say at this point, Lorin saw all that. - Over a period of time through the online gaming interactions,
Lewis groomed, brainwashed Breck. Over a period of months, Lewis began to isolate Breck from his friends and his family,
and created a situation where Lewis became the only person that Breck felt that he could trust.
narrator: Lewis Daynes uses the digital space to manipulate Breck and his online friends.
Danny Shaw: Lewis Daynes spun a web of lies on that gaming communication channel.
He promised the boys, and Breck in particular, that they would earn 100,000 pounds
once they left school through this technology venture. And through that, he managed to control access to the site,
who was allowed in. And in particular, he had a huge influence over Breck. Lorin LaFave: None of them had seen him at that point.
Lewis hid his identity. Eventually, to alleviate the boys' concerns that I was bringing up, he showed himself
in a very sort of grainy, dark room to just Breck and one other friend. And that way they easily reported back,
yeah, we met him. He's a teenager like us. Yes, Breck's mom is paranoid. [video game sounds]
I think it was really confusing because the boys didn't recognize that predators can be any age.
David McClelland: One of the ways in which Lewis isolated Breck from his family was to undermine his parents, his mom in particular,
criticizing her style of parenting. In one incident, Lewis wrote for Breck what his mom later called a manifesto,
saying that if she didn't comply with his demands, that Breck would leave home at the age of 16
and go and get a job that Lewis would provide for him. Lorin LaFave: I kept trying to gather
information and monitor what Breck was saying, what was happening. And when I would go into the room, a "wicked witch"
would fly across the screen. One day, too, I went in and said, oh, Breck, it's time for dinner, and a picture of Hitler
marched across the stage. So I knew that what I was trying to do as a parent, i.e. keep Breck safe, wasn't helping.
narrator: Daynes creates private channels on the server to communicate solely with Breck.
David McClelland: With Breck's friends, Lewis fabricated an overheard conversation,
saying that he'd heard his friends saying that they didn't really like Breck. In fact, they hated him.
This story, it was untrue, but that also drew a wedge between Breck and his friends,
again, reinforcing that Lewis was the only person left in the world for Breck to trust.
Lorin LaFave: I talked to everyone I knew about it. I said, I'm worried that Breck and the boys
are being groomed by someone they're gaming with online. And everyone's response at that point, oh, don't worry.
They're all online with strangers now. That's the norm. Nobody said, whoa, go to Child Exploitation and
Online Protection Command, CEOP, or call NSPCC. I felt like I was seeking help, but I
was going in the wrong places. So I tried to talk to Breck himself. He couldn't see it.
He was happy. He was enjoying the attention, the knowledge that he was gaining. There was a point where it was difficult for me
to get him to do any family activity. And that was hard because he was being torn by the predator
and by me. It felt like radicalization. It felt like he was teaching them extremist beliefs and
thoughts, and turning them against family, turning them against school. Breck had joined Air Cadets because he
wanted to be a pilot. Lewis literally got in the middle of that and talked Breck into quitting Air Cadets.
Everything that was healthy and good and maybe the norm, this predator was trying to pull him away from.
I literally decided I had to do the biggest, most important thing that I knew how to do.
And that's when I phoned the police. [audio logo] narrator: Surrey, England, the mother of 14-year-old Breck
Bednar is deeply concerned that an online predator is actively grooming her son.
- On the 13th of December, 2013, Breck's mother phoned police, with giving them as much
information as she had gleaned about Daynes, what she knew about his age, where he lived,
et cetera with the purpose of trying to understand from them, is there something that I should be worried about my son?
The operator who spoke to his mom handled it in a way that, when we look back now, was completely wrong.
They didn't do anything in terms of research into Daynes or trying to get an understanding
of a relationship, or was there anything of concern from the police's perspective or anything
that they could give to the mom. So, essentially, what she set out to do and achieve,
she couldn't do because of the way she was dealt with by the police. Lorin LaFave: Three times I was told that police intelligence
would be checked, and I felt so relieved because I felt like I finally am going to get the answers
and fix the issues. Sadly, I then waited for the investigation outcome. They told me to take away Breck's technology, so I did.
I got off the phone and I took away all of his technology for a week. And I then organized an intervention
meeting with other parents and the boys, two days later. And we sat them down, and it was civil.
I said, I'm worried that Lewis is grooming you. And Breck said, oh, that's a harsh term to say grooming.
And then his dad said, well, that's why we're worried, Breck. We feel that's what's happening.
Steve Keogh: The ultimate sanction against Breck from his mom would be to remove all the computer and gaming equipment
that he had to prevent him being able to communicate with Daynes, and that's what she did.
So she took away his means of communicating with him. Now, obviously, that would have been the ultimate decision,
a tricky decision, and one that Breck himself wouldn't have liked. Lorin LaFave: Unbeknownst to us,
Lewis had told Breck to record the meeting in a little MP3 player that I had missed when I took away all the technology.
And so the meeting was recorded. Then it was able to be played to the other boys in the gaming
group, again, making the parents look like we were so awful, and poor Breck. Look what he has to go through.
And in the meeting, we tried to convince them, and eventually I think they just gave in because they just wanted the meeting
to end after an hour or so. And they said, OK, fine, we'll game with some other friends.
We won't be friends with Lewis anymore. Because I said, that's it. If he won't meet with us, then that's it.
I'll meet up in a call for a coffee. I'll meet in London, I'll meet in his town.
I'll meet wherever, or the dads, whatever would suit. And the boys literally said, he'll
never meet up with any of you. He doesn't like parents. So we then collectively said, if he won't meet up,
then that's it, no friendship, no gaming, no interaction at all. And the boys reluctantly agreed.
narrator: Breck's parents give him back his computer equipment, but only after he promises to ceasefire
all communication with Daynes. Steve Keogh: For Breck's mom at this point, it would have been a relief, I think,
that this would hopefully be the end of the matter. Sadly, that wasn't what Daynes had in mind.
He couriered a burner phone to Breck's home so he could continue the communications,
continue the manipulation and the grooming. Lorin LaFave: I felt like we had fixed the problem.
Breck went back to being normal, the norm that he was, happy-go-lucky. If I asked him to do chores, he'd do it again.
If I said come to the table to eat, he'd come. And it just felt like everything was fixed.
Unfortunately, when I forbade Breck from speaking with this predator, it made it more dangerous because it
all went underground. narrator: In February 2014, everything appears to be back to normal.
Breck leaves for a school trip to Spain. Lorin LaFave: This was an opportunity for him
to really experience a different culture and spend time with his friends face to face, which I felt so pleased for.
As we left, we hugged and kissed and I told him I loved him. And I just never expected that to be the last time
I would see him alive. He messages and he said, oh, it's great, Mom, the food, the people.
I'm having a great time. Sounded like he was really enjoying it. Unfortunately, I did find out later
that he was being inundated by this predator who didn't want to let go just because he
was on a school trip. And even when Breck had met a girl and he had posted his picture, leaning his head in with this girl,
and Lewis couldn't stand it. Take that picture down. She looks horrible. - There was, obviously, an element of jealousy there.
Messages were sent firstly about why aren't you responding as quickly as you should be to my messages?
That's why I sent you the phone. And also, he then faked an illness to get, A, some sympathy, and, B, some response from Breck.
narrator: Breck stays at his father's home in Surrey after his trip to Spain. Lewis Daynes continues to contact
Breck via the burner phone, pressuring the teen to meet with him in-person. Richard Whittam KC: Lewis Daynes
put in in Breck's mind the idea of, oh, tell your father you're at a sleepover, and not with Lewis Daynes but with one of his friends.
Unsurprisingly, father said, yes, that's fine because he knew the family that he said he would be staying with,
but that was fictitious. But that was all set up by Lewis Daynes to get Breck to come and stay with him.
And it was, of course, the first time they'd met physically. Steve Keogh: On the 16th of February, 2014, a taxi arrived
at Breck father's home. And as far as his dad was concerned, this was taking him to his friend's
house for this sleepover. But in actual fact, what we know now is that this taxi was booked by Daynes,
and it took him all the way to Grays in Essex, a trip of about 30 miles, costing about 100 pounds.
As far as they were concerned, at that stage, Daynes was now out of his life. This was just a normal, innocent sleepover.
He told him that he was ill. And it was because of this illness that he couldn't carry on with his business,
his multi-million pound IT business. And what he wanted to do was hand over that business to Breck.
So if you just put yourself in Breck's position here, he was being promised that his future was made.
That he would have everything that he wanted, everything that he saw that Daynes had,
he was going to be given it. All he had to do was get a taxi to Daynes's home, where they could discuss the handover of the business.
[mysterious music] Lorin LaFave: I woke up and it was my birthday, and I felt this sort of impending doom.
I didn't know what was wrong. I then got a strange message from his dad, and he said Breck didn't come home from his friend's house.
And I need him to look after the triplets. And you know, I don't know where he is.
Immediately, I was worried and started making phone calls. And I phoned up his friends and tried to get answers,
and they all sounded funny. And they said, oh, Breck's with this friend and then Breck's with that friend.
Like they didn't know what to say. The reason they didn't know what to say is they knew something was very wrong.
Unfortunately, his dad called me back, and I did get the absolute worst news any parent could ever get.
[audio logo] narrator: On February 16, 2014, believing he is about to inherit a computing business,
14-year-old Breck Bednar travels from Surrey to Essex to meet his online friend,
Lewis Daynes. The trip takes a turn the next morning when Daynes makes a shocking call to the police.
999 operator: [on phone] Essex police emergency. Lewis Daynes: [on phone] My friend and
I got into an altercation, and I am the only one who came out alive. 999 operator: [on phone] Are you telling
me you've killed somebody? Lewis Daynes: [on phone] Yes, I am. 999 operator: [on phone] Right. And who am I speaking to?
Lewis Daynes: [on phone] My name is Lewis Daynes. I'm 18 years old. And I live--
999 operator: [on phone] You're telling me he is definitely dead? Lewis Daynes: [on phone] Yes.
I'm telling you he's definitely dead. Steve Keogh: On this Monday morning, around 11:06 AM,
Daynes made a 999 call. And in that call, he said he needed the police and forensics to come to his home.
He then went on to describe, in his words, what happened there. 999 operator: [on phone] Right.
OK, Lewis, I need you to just take me back through that again. So what happened last night?
Lewis Daynes: [on phone] OK. I have a chest of drawers. I had a penknife on there, folded.
He picked it up, opened it, and then lost control. I-- 999 operator: [on phone] Slow down,
let me just take those details in. Penknife on the bedside table, Breck grabbed this.
What? In order to harm himself? Lewis Daynes: [on phone] No. In order to harm me.
Richard Whittam KC: He portrayed it that he, Lewis, had been the victim of an attack by Breck,
and Breck had used a knife towards him. David McClelland: It sounds premeditated.
It does sound pre-planned. The call handler confirmed to say, are you saying that you killed somebody?
To which Lewis coldly says, yes, I have. Lewis Daynes: [on phone] So I, in self-defense,
put my left arm up to block him from stabbing me, effectively. We struggled. I got him to the ground.
He got up. I got the knife. And you-- can you not interrupt me with this part? 999 operator: [on phone] OK, go on.
Danny Shaw: He wasn't frenzied. He wasn't panicked. He was slow, deliberate, telling this story and
this account, pausing at various times, and then telling the operator at the end of the line
to be quiet and let him finish. He was in control, and he wanted to control the narrative.
Lewis Daynes: [on phone] This is being recorded anyway, isn't it? 999 operator: [on phone] Yeah.
Lewis Daynes: [on phone] I grabbed the knife, and I stabbed him once in the back of the neck,
I believe, somewhere near the brain stem. He turned around. He tried to carry it on, and I--
I think I stumbled on my chest of drawers. I fell over. I got back up, backed away, and then I--
I don't remember exactly what happened, but the fight ended with me cutting his throat.
I believe I turned around and I slashed his throat. He fell-- he fell face first on my bed.
I tried to stop the bleeding. 999 operator: [on phone] Yeah. Lewis Daynes: [on phone] I was trying to compress
the wound at that time. And-- 999 operator: [on phone] Lewis, are you still in the room where Breck is? Lewis Daynes: [on phone] No.
999 operator: [on phone] Where are you? Lewis Daynes: [on phone] Just don't-- OK, don't interrupt me.
Just let me explain this. This is being recorded. Are the police on their way? I can hear sirens.
999 operator: [on phone] They are. They are. Lewis Daynes: [on phone] I'm going to go and do my part,
please. Thank you for your help. 999 operator: [on phone] All right, just listen.
- He's the one that puts the phone down and says that he's now going to tell the story
or help with the story with the police. It's one of the most chilling and extraordinary 999
calls that I've ever heard. David McClelland: The full details of what happened in Lewis's apartment
that night in February 2014, we may never know. But what the paramedics and the police
found when they did come to the apartment the following morning was Breck lying dead in a pool of blood,
apparently having been stabbed in the neck. Steve Keogh: The first people to attend this call would
be local uniform officers. And they have a number one priority, and that's preservation of life.
So when they're entering into Daynes's flat, even though on the phone call, Daynes is saying,
I'm in no doubt myself that Breck's dead, they can't take that as final. They have to go in and check themselves
to make sure there's no chance that they can save Breck's life. Sadly, when they go into the flat,
it's quite clear that Breck is dead and there's nothing they can do. So this would now be treated as a crime scene.
Breck's body itself will be treated as a crime scene. And also, as somebody was there at the time Breck died,
Daynes himself would be treated as a crime scene. So it would be important to gain control of him
to make sure any forensic evidence can be retrieved from him later on. narrator: The scene is secured and Lewis Daynes
is taken into custody. Crime scene investigators begin the process of collecting evidence.
- When these officers went into the flat, the investigators, and they walked down a long corridor,
and one of the first things they see is a knife on the floor. They go into the living room, and
within there they see a bag, a plastic bag containing cut up clothing. In the bedroom, on the bed itself, they see a laptop.
The laptop is covered in blood. Within bins in the flat, the police found duct tape, which appeared as if it had been used to bind
somebody's hands and feet. - And in the bathroom, in the sink which had been filled with water, they
found various computer devices belonging to Lewis Daynes, which he had apparently
placed there to try and erase any of the digital evidence, any of the messages and communications, to try and basically destroy the evidence.
Daynes himself, after killing Breck, had had a shower. - He's saying this was self-defense.
He's saying this was an accident. I didn't mean to kill him. This isn't a murder.
If Daynes is telling the truth, if this is an accident, why would this computer equipment be in water?
And when we look at what we know about the relationship, where they met, it was all online.
This would immediately jump out as an apparent attempt to destroy anything that was on the computer, essentially,
which would mean their communications between the two. - The most common thing when somebody is saying self-defense
is to-- and a knife has been involved, is to look for defense injuries. And although there's still some blood on Lewis Daynes,
there were no defense injuries. One of the significant factors was the air ambulance actually
was arriving as Lewis Daynes has been taken out to the police car. And there was clearly a bit of a panic that he thought,
what happens if Breck Bednar is still alive? The police simply said, we're going to do everything
to try and save him, but there was clearly a concern that what he was setting up to be
a complete fiction that might be unraveled if somehow Breck had actually survived.
narrator: Investigators were shocked to learn that Lewis Daynes had posted photos of Breck's body
online. David McClelland: One of the many disturbing things about what happened is that photos of Breck's dead body
were posted online very shortly after he died. And links to these posts were shared with Breck's family,
in particular his siblings, three triplets, who were younger. At the same time, as they received messages
from Breck's friends saying, is this true, it's so sad, his parents were receiving a phone
call from the police to say that their son had been murdered. Steve Keogh: The fact that these images could get back
so quickly to Breck's family really show the power and the impact social media can have.
I can't even begin to put into words how that would have felt for that family to see their brother, their son
in those circumstances. That to me is absolutely tragic. Lorin LaFave: I screamed and screamed and screamed,
and that damaged my vocal cords. I couldn't stop until I was sedated. I felt like I tried so hard and yet this happened.
My job was to protect my children, and I tried. I just didn't get the right help that I needed.
And I didn't know what I was up against, to be honest. I didn't recognize even how evil some people can be myself.
And so I don't know, I'm not surprised Breck didn't recognize it because this predator was
extremely manipulative and controlling, and even tried to control me. - At the post mortem, it was later
to be shown that there were at least four movements of the knife to the fatal wound to the neck, which again,
wouldn't have happened in a sudden coming together of two people in a fight with a knife.
It was quite clear when the duct tape was recovered, there were circles of duct tape which
was completely consistent with restraints around the wrists and the arms. They'd been cut off at some point.
And, equally, Breck's clothing, boxer shorts and a t-shirt, had been cut off in a way that was entirely consistent
with him being constrained. So, in other words, hands tied behind the back, you can't take the t-shirt off.
Hairs on the inside of the tape showed it was around Breck. There was also blood on the restraints,
including some on the underside of the adhesive bit, so again, some bleeding from Breck at the time
that the restraints were put on. There were some more minor injuries as well, as the fatal injury.
So one can just imagine a knife being used to threaten and then put constraints on somebody.
[audio logo] narrator: December 2014, preparations are underway for the trial of 19-year-old Lewis Daynes,
who has been charged with the murder of 14-year-old Breck Bednar. Daynes has been grooming Breck for the past year
via an online gaming server, before luring the teen to his flat in Essex where he stabbed him to death.
- He had tried to destroy any evidence in terms of communications or anything that could
be on computers or phones. But one thing he didn't know is that in Breck's rucksack,
at the bottom of his rucksack was his iPad. There was information held on there that gave police a real good indication
of the communications between the two. - They were able to see just the lengths that Daynes
had gone to manipulate Breck. Richard Whittam KC: Along with the two young men that Lewis Daynes had been in touch with,
and the timing of what their message were and how and what he was saying to them, started
to build up a picture that was showing that initial account to be untrue. When he was interviewed and he gave an account still
saying he was acting in defense, but saying there had actually been a sexual liaison between him and Breck for the first time,
and pretended to be in a consensual relationship, none of which was true. narrator: Investigators dig deeper
into Daynes's background, discovering troubling information. David McClelland: At the point at which Breck Bednar was
killed, Lewis Daynes was an 18-year-old man living on his own in Grays in Essex,
just outside of London. He had experienced a disrupted, difficult childhood. His parents had separated.
But from the age of 16, it appears as though he'd been living on his own in this flat.
- Essentially, his whole life was online. He was at home playing these games, hosting these games,
and spending hours upon hours talking to people who were all generally much younger than him.
Danny Shaw: In 2011, there had been allegations that he had sexually assaulted or raped another boy.
Police had investigated this. They looked into it, but they decided not to take any action at the time.
But when Breck's mom made the complaint to the police, the police should have looked at the police national computer
where they would have seen that record of the allegation against Daynes from 2011.
And they didn't even check the computer to see that. If they had, the alarm bell surely would have rung
and the police would have taken action. narrator: The prosecution is prepared for a lengthy and
complicated trial, but on the first day at Chelmsford Crown Court, Lewis Daynes changes his plea.
- Lewis Daynes had pleaded not guilty. And it was on the first day of the trial that there was some discussion, and
he did ultimately then indicate he would plead guilty. He would still get a life sentence,
but the judge has to set a minimum term that he would have to serve. And two of the significant factors on that
is, one, an intention to kill. And, two, as Breck was a child, that was it sexually
or sadistically motivated? Steve Keogh: And when the judge looked at the circumstances
around Breck's death, she concluded that he should be given 25 years minimum imprisonment.
Lorin LaFave: I didn't know what to expect. I didn't expect trial to only last two days.
I think it would have been much harder sitting through hours and days of that pain.
So in some ways, I'm glad that he changed his plea. Maybe I won't hear every gory detail,
but do I really need to? Breck was my amazing, clever, beautiful boy, beautiful son
who we'll miss forever. He had so much potential that he'll never now reach. He had so much to give to this world.
I want Breck's tragedy to help open the eyes of everyone to recognize the dangers of online predators.
It is a very real danger today. We all need to look after each other. We've set up the Breck Bednar Memorial Foundation
to help raise money and awareness to help protect all of our children from danger.
I'll never stop missing my Breck. Thank you. When I think of it and I think of Breck at that last minute
when he realized, wow, you know, Mom was right, and I hope he knows and remembered how much
I loved and cared about him. Because if that would have been me, I would have been so scared to be treated that way.
And it hurts me so much more because it's a child. And if only Daynes hadn't gone after me,
I was the one he hated. He was hating me. Why didn't he kill me? I had lived enough, done enough, been enough places,
and I do regret that his crazy actions weren't taken out of me instead. narrator: The Breck Bednar Foundation
was set up by Lorin LaFave to educate and spread awareness about children's safety online.
Lorin LaFave: Over the years, I've tried to use my voice and Breck's story to try to help other children
keep safer online. And when we set up the charity with a bunch of volunteers, it was about bringing about awareness,
about grooming, about the dangers online, that boys can be groomed too, that predators
can be any age, that you never know who you're really talking to. And all of those messages were so important.
And then we went into education and empowering young people to make safer choices for themselves.
- What Lorin does and what the Breck Foundation does is hugely important because they did everything right
and still they lost a child. And so what they're doing is they're letting people know that all children are at risk,
but I do feel passionately that we have to look at this in a broader way. We've got to up our game.
And we've got to normalize what is healthy for children, what is good for children.
They have a right to flourish. Danny Shaw: I think this case was a wake-up call for everyone
about the dangers of the online world, and gaming in particular and how people that children might not
know who they've never met can entrap them and can lure them into dangerous situations.
Alysia Judge: In 2025, there are 40 million gamers active in the UK, which speaks
to gaming's incredible power. And safety is a huge and urgent topic in video games.
The biggest loophole in modern gaming that's making it hard for games developers
are side channels, so chats that happen off platform. And if you move into Discord or Telegram,
these are spaces that game designers just can't reach, so they can't build safety tools for their players.
We know how to create safe shopping malls, we know how to create safe play parks,
and we need to learn how to apply those lessons into a digital space. Just because it's in a game doesn't
mean that it's not real. Baroness Beeban Kidron: Breck's family have turned agony into action and despair
into trying to make change. And I think you have to admire that and you have to thank them for that.
Lorin LaFave: There are so many issues that children are struggling with now, with content being
sent to them that's inappropriate, pushing eating disorders on them, the bullying, the grooming, the sexploitation.
I mean, the list goes on and on. And what I would say to people, start off small,
start off carefully. And don't think you have to do what everybody else does because children need rites of passage, they need boundaries.
They need a childhood, and we have lost our children's childhood for them. They have had it taken away.
And they need to play outside. They need to enjoy nature. They don't need devices in their hands.
I try to live a life that's normal, but every day is hard. And I hate every minute of missing Breck.
And I miss him most minutes. I miss knowing what he would have really done. I miss hearing his voice, and I miss his sense of humor.
And I just miss him because he was innately a good person. [theme music] ♪ ♪

In 2014, 14-year-old gamer Breck Bednar was murdered after months of online grooming by Lewis Daynes, who lured him to his flat under false pretenses. The shocking crime spurred Breck's family to create The Breck Foundation to fight online grooming.

This true crime series delves into real cases in the digital age, tracing social media clues throughout investigations to reveal how online footprints expose murder and reshape the pursuit of truth.

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Brief Summary

The episode recounts Breck Bednar's tragic murder by an online predator and highlights the dangers of grooming in gaming.

Key points

The Double-Edged Sword of Technology. David McClelland discusses the dangers and benefits of social media for young people.
Grooming and Manipulation. Lorin LaFave expresses her concerns about Breck being groomed online.
The Police Response. Lorin LaFave's attempts to alert the police about her concerns are met with indifference.
The Last Goodbye. Lorin LaFave reflects on her final moments with Breck before his trip.
A Dangerous Sleepover. Breck is manipulated into meeting his online predator under false pretenses.
Chilling 999 Call. Lewis Daynes makes a 999 call admitting to killing his friend Breck Bednar.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This case was a wake-up call for everyone.

Danny Shaw reflects on the dangers of the online world.

0:21WatchApr 13, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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