Archie Battersbee’s mother has revealed that the 12-year-old was a victim of online bullying in the months leading up to his death.
His grieving family say they discovered sickening WhatsApp messages, both text and voice notes, sent to the schoolboy, including messages encouraging him to commit suicide.
Hollie Dance, 47, also said they have been targeted by vicious trolls who have sent them tens of thousands of abusive messages since news of Archie’s incident broke last April.
The relentless trolling has taken such a toll that two family members have attempted suicide, she said.
The youngster was found unconscious in his bedroom at his home in Southend, Essex, with a ligature over his head.
12-year-old Archie Battersbee was at the center of a life support treatment battle over the summer until his mechanical intervention was finally ruled out on Aug. 6.
Hollie Dance, 47, pictured with her son Archie, 12, who never regained consciousness after being found with a ligature around his neck at home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on April 7
He was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness and was presumed to be brainstem dead by doctors who said his life support treatment should be ended.
Archie’s family asked a judge for “more time” to see if he would “fight back,” but after a failed legal battle, his life support was cut off in August last year.
His mother believed her son, an avid gymnast who suffered “catastrophic” brain damage, may have been participating in an online challenge.
However, a coroner found in a pre-inquest review that there was no evidence that Archie took part in a “blackout challenge.”
Now his parents have learned that Archie was ruthlessly abused by threatening WhatsApp messages prior to his death.
The reports were released ahead of an inquest into the little boy’s death, which is due to start next week.
said Mrs. Dance the guard: ‘I couldn’t read too much because I just cried a lot, I wasn’t doing well.
Archie’s mother, Hollie Dance, pictured at her son’s funeral at St Mary’s Church in Prittlewell
Archie Battersbee (pictured left and right, in hospital), 12, was found unconscious on April 7 at his home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, with a ligature around his neck.
“They threatened to come to his house, knives were reported.
Ms Dance said the reports came as a ‘shock’, especially as the family has been targeted by trolls since April, with nearly 20,000 abuse screenshots now being reviewed by lawyers and police.
She said that two family members had attempted suicide because of the trolls they had received.
She added, “So to think my little boy had been cheated on before and we had no idea is absolutely heartbreaking.”
Sources close to Archie’s family told The Guardian that the WhatsApp messages, both text and voice notes, continued for months, even encouraging the schoolboy to commit suicide.
In a sickening message, Ms. Dance received a photo of her son in his hhospital bed on top of an image of a person bending over and smiling, captioned, “Do you think he’s dead?”
Hollie Dance, 47, pictured with her son Archie, 12, who never regained consciousness after being found with a ligature around his neck at home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on April 7
Archie with his mother Hollie Dance (left), brother Tom Summers and sister Lauren Summers
Archie’s older brother Tom, 22, went to the hospital every day to visit him and try to get him to respond
Even Archie’s school friends have been targeted by mean trolls, Ms. Dance said.
She added: ‘We didn’t ask for these spotlights, it’s my little boy who lost his life.’
Doctors who treated Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, thought he was brainstem dead and said continuing life support treatment was not in his best interests.
Last May, bosses at Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, asked a High Court judge to make decisions about what medical measures were in Archie’s best interests.
Mrs Justice Arbuthnot initially considered the case and concluded that Archie was dead.
But the Court of Appeal judges upheld a challenge, by Archie’s parents, to Ms Arbuthnot’s ruling, saying the evidence should be reviewed by another Supreme Court judge.
Judge Hayden then ruled, after a further hearing, that ending treatment would be in Archie’s best interests and that his life support was turned off.
He passed away on August 6 and a month later the schoolboy was buried today while Mrs Dance paid tribute to the ‘best boy ever’.
She told the congregation: “He was just such a beautiful little boy and he just made the best of everything he did.
“He led a very fulfilled and happy life. He was very, very energetic.’
Archie’s parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee fought vigorously to keep him on a ventilator, which was eventually turned off on August 6.
An investigation ahead of the November inquest heard police found messages on the 12-year-old’s phone that reflected a “very bad mood.”
Essex Police Inspector Sarah Weeks told the inquest: “There are no photos or videos on the download to suggest that Archie took part in an online challenge.”
She added: “There is no evidence that Archie recorded any videos on the day of the incident.”
She said Archie visited YouTube “regularly” and that most of his search terms were about “MMA fighters, boxing or music videos.”
“Most of his internet searches are related to his interests,” she said, including one for “how much do MMA fighters get paid.”
She said Archie had the TikTok social media app on his phone and that he was “using and accessing TikTok” on April 7, but that there was “no evidence” to suggest he was participating in an online challenge.
Detective Inspector Weeks said Archie’s phone had since been submitted for a “full forensic download.”
In a further update following this, she said: ‘There are a series of messages that reflect Archie’s mood.
“This was only received this morning, so we will try to prepare a full report.”
The coroner, Mr. Brookes, said, “It’s a depressed mood we’re looking at here, a very depressed mood.”
He added: “There is no evidence at this stage to substantiate Miss Dance’s concern, fear, about the choking challenge or the blackout challenge, whether it’s on TikTok or frankly on any other platform or any other provider.’
He said the topics the full inquest will address will include Archie’s medical cause of death and his “state of mind and his intentions on April 7, 2022.”
If you are affected by any of the issues addressed in this article, call the Samaritans at 116123 for confidential support or visit a local Samaritans chapter, see www.samaritans.org for more information.
