A teenager has admitted using messaging apps to encourage others to self-harm.
The 15-year-old appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (August 20), where he pleaded guilty to two counts of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.
He was 13 at the time of the offences, which involved communications on Telegram and Discord in October 2024.
The offences are all said to have taken place in Croydon.
He also pleaded guilty, “on a basis”, to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child.
The charges allege that he created 13 still and five moving images in category A, 12 category B stills, and two still and two moving images in category C.
He denied two further counts of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm relating to alleged messages sent on Discord.
The offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm was introduced under section 184 of the Online Safety Act 2023.
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In England, “serious self-harm” was defined as self-harm amounting to grievous bodily harm within the meaning of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
A further hearing is scheduled to take place at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on September 10.
The boy was granted conditional bail.
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