Man took life after Facebook snub

Family says being ‘unfriended' and bullied was final straw for student

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Bloomberg
Bloomberg

London: A young musician hanged himself after a girl he had become infatuated with removed him as a ‘friend' on Facebook.

Simon Foxley, 21, became interested in the girl after meeting her on the social networking site. But when he told her of his romantic feelings, she ‘unfriended' him — removing him from the list of people who could view her profile page and photographs.

When he tried to get back in contact with the girl, her friends began bombarding him with abusive messages telling him to leave her alone.

Hours after reading one of the messages — which ended with the words: ‘Go and die' — the music student from Gloucestershire, hanged himself. On Wednesday, his devastated family said that being "unfriended" and bullied on Facebook had been ‘the final straw' for the talented drummer.

His mother, Diane Foxley, 55 appealed to young people to be aware of the dangers of cyber-bullying.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Deputy Gloucestershire Coroner David Dooley described the online messages as "heartbreaking."

— Daily Mail

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