A mother has won a High Court battle to reopen the inquest into her 14-year-old son's death, after new evidence suggested it may have been linked to a TikTok challenge or online sextortion. Jools Sweeney died at home in Cheltenham in 2022. His original inquest lasted only 23 minutes and called no live evidence before the coroner returned a narrative conclusion.
Mother's emotional reaction to ruling
Speaking after the ruling, Jools' mother Ellen Roome said: 'For more than four years we have fought every single day for the truth about what happened to our beautiful son, Jools. Today, the legal system has finally recognised that there are questions which deserve to be answered.' She added: 'This journey has broken us at times. It has taken an enormous emotional toll on our family, but we could never stop. We fought not only for Jools, but for every family who deserves to know the truth about how their child died.'
New evidence of social media role
Ms Roome began a legal challenge against the senior coroner for Gloucestershire to have the conclusion quashed and the inquest reopened. Her lawyers told the High Court that new evidence had come to light concerning the role of social media in Jools' death. They said a 'number of lines of inquiry' not pursued at the original inquest 'bear directly upon TikTok's platform and the data it holds'. The coroner and TikTok did not oppose the bid to reopen the inquest.
At the end of the hearing in London, Lord Justice Warby, sitting with Mrs Justice Heather Williams, quashed the conclusion and ordered a new inquest. The judge said it was 'desirable in the interests of justice for a new inquest to be held' and that it was 'simply not possible to know at this stage whether the same conclusion will be reached after appropriate investigations'. He noted many potential lines of inquiry had become known because of the 'tireless investigations undertaken by Ms Roome'.
Campaign for 'Jools' Law'
Ms Roome has also campaigned for 'Jools' Law' – a right for parents to access their deceased child's data without a court order – and wider changes to social media, which she described as 'not safe'. She said digital checks should form part of the post-mortem and inquest process, similar to toxicology reports. Ms Roome was made an MBE last year for her campaigning for services to children's online safety.
Details of new evidence
Her barrister, Harry Lambert, said in written submissions that the Attorney General gave her the go-ahead to proceed with her legal challenge in March, with Gloucestershire Police also reviewing its investigation. He said: 'A considerable body of new evidence and a number of investigative insufficiencies have come to light, in particular concerning the role of social media, and of TikTok specifically, in the events leading to the deceased's death.' Evidence from Jools' TikTok data was 'highly probative of overuse or addiction'.
However, Mr Lambert continued that the reopened inquest 'could take many directions' and that 'several of the most significant lines of inquiry that were never pursued in 2022 have nothing to do with TikTok'. These included the possibility that Jools' Instagram account was hacked or that conversations before his death took place on other social media platforms. He also said a fraudulent Instagram account operated by an African crime gang contacted Jools shortly before his death, and evidence from his phone found a 'possible attempt at extortion or sextortion'.
Mr Lambert added: 'Together, this material provides a much fuller evidential platform and paints a more comprehensive and potentially different picture of how the deceased came by his death. The applicant's concern is simply that all of these matters be fully and fearlessly investigated, whatever the outcome. She seeks only the truth about how her son died, wherever the evidence may lead.'
