'Only one of us came out alive': Teen Lewis Daynes after murdering boy, 14

A teenager murdered a boy in a `sexually or sadistically motivated' attack before making a chilling emergency call to UK police.

Lewis Daynes, 18, befriended 14-year-old Breck Bednar on the internet before luring him to his Essex flat and slashing his neck.

He sent pictures of his dying victim to two online accounts. Then, in a `dispassionate' 999 call he claimed he had grabbed a knife from his friend during a fight, explaining: `I believe I turned around and slashed his throat.' He added: `Only one of us came out alive.'

Breck's worried parents had contacted Surrey Police two months earlier about their fears their son was being groomed but no action was taken.

As Daynes, now 19, was jailed for life yesterday, it emerged Essex Police had investigated claims he raped another teenage boy three years earlier but the case was dropped. Both forces are being probed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and face legal action by Breck's family.

Telling Daynes he would serve at least 25 years, Mrs Justice Laura Cox described the case as `disturbing'. She said he had bound his victim with duct tape, adding: `This murder was driven by sexual or sadistic motivation.'

Breck, who lived in a GBP600,000 home in Caterham, Surrey, with mother Lorin LaFave, 47, was killed on February 17 after secretly travelling to Daynes' flat in Grays, Essex. They had never met before.

He told his father, a wealthy oil futures trader who is divorced from Miss LaFave, that he was staying overnight with a friend.

The older boy had enticed Breck with bogus offers of taking over his multi-million-pound computer business. In reality, he was living off a small inheritance and his grandparents are understood to have helped with his rent.

Breck's parents say no-one got back to them after they contacted Surrey Police in December. The earlier allegation involved a 15-year-old boy who claimed he was assaulted by Daynes in 2011. Essex Police looked into the matter but decided not to pursue it.

Basic enquiries by Surrey Police should have flagged up the earlier allegation. The IPCC is understood to be looking at whether these were carried out and if the Essex force put details on national databases.

The mother of Daynes's first alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, criticised Essex Police yesterday, saying: `The police did not do a lot for me at the time when the attack was reported to them. They just kept delaying the case and turned around and said there was no evidence.'

Miss LaFave, who wept at the sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court, said afterwards: `Had all employees and procedures worked properly I don't believe Breck would be dead.'

The day after Breck came to his flat, Daynes dialled 999 to say he had killed his friend in self-defence. Investigations revealed he had emailed photos of the victim's body to online friends before police arrived. One was also sent a video of a beheading on a previous occasion. Police do not know who the victim was or where it happened but believe the footage is genuine.

Daynes, who was described as a `weird computer boy' and had spent time in foster care after his parents divorced, told police he had put his arms around his friend to comfort him and `one thing led to another'.

But prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said there did not appear to be anything `of that nature' in communications between them. Detective Inspector Anne Cameron said: `We have evidence Breck was bound with duct tape, possibly at the wrists and ankles.

`He bought the duct tape off Amazon along with other items which indicate a sexual motive.'

Heartbreaking victim impact statements revealed how Breck's parents blamed themselves. His father Barry Bednar, 50, said: `I have a feeling that I let him down and didn't protect him.'

Essex Police said they had referred themselves to the IPCC.

Lewis Daynes: 'Hi there, umm, OK. Hello, I need police and a forensics team to my address please.

Operator: 'What do you mean? What's happened?

'My friend and I got into an altercation, and I'm the only one who came out alive.

'Are you telling me you've killed somebody?

'Yes, I am.'

'Right, and who am I speaking to?'

'My name is Lewis Daynes, I am 18 years old. 

'What's actually happened?'

'My friend came to stay the night with me yesterday because he'd been feeling very down, feeling suicidal .And I woke up this morning, he was in a mess, I tried to calm him down. I hugged him and said that I was there for him. He shrugged me off.

'Don't tell me anymore. You're telling me he's definitely dead?

'Yes, I'm telling you he's dead. 

'So what happened last night?

'He came to stay with me because he was feeling down.

'What's his name?

'Breck Bednar. 

'He came to stay with you.'

'I can explain this to the officers.

'I need to take these initial details.

'I know, I know. He came to stay with me the night, I did my best to comfort him, I woke up this morning, he was in a mess.

'Did you have an argument with him last night?'

'No, we were fine. We were both fine.

'Why did he come to stay with you?'

'Because he was fed up with his home life.He's had a lot of problems, I've known him for a longtime he came to stay with me. I was in Thailand last week on holiday, he was in Spain.

'OK, so you both went to bed and what's happened this morning?'

'I woke up, he was just standing up. He was in a mess, hands on his face, I got up and put my arms around him and said it was OK. He just shrugged me off and said "no", actually, I can't remember actually what he said. 

'He was going on about how he didn't want to go home, he was fed up with his life, and he didn't want to go.

'I have a pen knife on the side of, sorry in my room, adjacent to my bed, I have a chest of drawers, I had a pen knife on there folded, he picked it up, opened it, and lost control. I..'

'Slow down. So Breck grabbed it in order to harm himself?

'No in order to harm ME, he opened it, and lost control.

'I, in self-defence, 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... (sighs, Ok)...Can you not interrupt me with this part?

'OK'

'This is being recorded anyway isn't it?'

'Yes'

'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, tried to carry it on, and I think I stumbled on my chest of drawers. I fell over, I got back up, backed away and, 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 face first on my bed, I tried to stop the bleeding, he fell onto the floor and I couldn't stop it. His throat was properly cut. 

'And he's still on the floor?'

'Yes'

'He fell onto the bed face first, I was trying to compress the wound at that time.'

'Lewis are you still in the room where Breck is?'

'No.

'Where are you?'

'Look, this, OK, Don't interrupt me just let me explain this if this is being recorded. I didn't know what to do, I felt like...

'Is the house where you are also where Breck is?'

'Yes. I felt like taking my own life. I don't remember what happened after that, all I know is I dropped the knife in the hallway. I stripped down and then sat in the shower.

'You've left the weapon in the hallway and have spent how long sitting in the shower?

'I don't know. Are the police on their way? I can hear sirens.

'They are, they are.

'I'm going to go and do my part. Thank you for your help.'

Includes inputs from Daily Mail