'Police call handler could have saved my son from sex killer': Mother claims 101 operator ignored her pleas for help when her teenage son was being groomed online by predator who went on to murder him 

• A murdered teenager's mother has hit out at Surrey Police 101 call handler
• She said her son would be alive if handler hadn't ignored her plea for help
• Lorin LaFave 'begged' police to protect her son, 14, from online grooming
• But 'incompetent and uncaring' call handler fobbed her off after 12 minutes

By Chris Greenwood, Crime Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: 19:09 EST, 22 November 2015 | Updated: 03:39 EST, 23 November 2015

The mother of a teenager murdered by an internet sex predator said he would still be alive today if a 101 call handler had not ignored her plea for help.

Lorin LaFave called Surrey Police ‘begging’ them to help protect her 14-year-old son Breck Bednar who was being groomed online.

But an ‘incompetent and uncaring’ non-emergency call operator fobbed her off with a reference number after just 12 minutes on the line.

Within an hour the case had been ‘closed’ by junior civilian staff who failed to undertake even the most basic checks.

Scroll down for audio 

Plea: Lorin LaFave (pictured) called Surrey Police ‘begging’ them to help protect her 14-year-old son Breck, who was being groomed online. But an ‘incompetent and uncaring’ non-emergency call operator fobbed her off

Killed: Two months after Mrs LaFave tried to raise the alarm her son Breck Bednar (pictured) was murdered by 18-year-old computer geek Daynes in a ‘sexual and sadistic’ attack at his Essex flat

If they had looked up killer Lewis Daynes on national police systems they would have found he was accused of raping a 15-year-old boy three years earlier.

Speaking last night as a review revealed appalling police failings, Mrs LaFave, 48, said: ‘If I had called one minute later and got a different person my son would still be alive today.

‘I should have called 999. But I knew it was not an emergency. People trust those who answer 101 to do the right thing. Otherwise what is the point in having it?

‘It hurts me every day – the level of incompetence, this is supposed to be a professional job and to let someone be this negligent, I just don’t understand.’

Two months after Mrs LaFave tried to raise the alarm her son was murdered by 18-year-old computer geek Daynes in a ‘sexual and sadistic’ attack at his Essex flat.

He met Breck in an online gaming forum and spent months grooming him online, turning him against his family, his school and even his Christian faith.

Yesterday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) published a report which laid bare the failings of police.

Officials found a call handler did not act despite being repeatedly told a child was being groomed by a man his mother feared was not only a paedophile but a computer hacker and potential terrorist.

Mrs LaFave said her son (pictured) would still be alive if the 101 call handler had not ignored her plea for help

She offered to make appropriate checks but only looked at local systems which did not hold any information on Daynes.

And after consulting with a ‘call closer’, the report was labelled ‘no further action’ and forgotten about in less than an hour.

Meanwhile Mrs LaFave was left believing police were actively pursuing the man she feared was endangering her son.

In an unusual step, the 12 minute 101 phone conversation of her conversation with the ‘unsympathetic and dismissive’ police civilian worker was released publicly.

In it, a clearly concerned Mrs LaFave makes serious allegations, which culminate in suggesting the suspect is funding terrorism in Syria.

Failure: If the call handler had looked up killer Lewis Daynes (pictured) on national police systems they would have found he was accused of raping a 15-year-old boy three years earlier

Saying ‘it’s difficult for us’, the call handler shows little interest in the scale of the grooming and tells Mrs LaFave to ‘advise’ the man to stop contacting her son.

Trying to end the conversation, she adds: ‘What I can do is give you a reference number and if you have any other sort of information you can add you can let us know.’

An independent inquiry was launched after Daynes pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for a minimum of 25 years in January.

The IPCC said police forces across the country must review and improve their handling of reports of online grooming.

But officials said that the call handler and the ‘call closer’, neither of whom have been named publicly, cannot be disciplined for misconduct as they have both resigned.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mrs LaFave said: ‘I felt like I had to beg her to believe me, I felt like she wasn’t taking me seriously. Looking back I should have just hung up and called again. It was ridiculous.

‘She was barely trained at all, she simply did not understand what I was talking about. This wasn’t some website he was using. This was someone who had ruthlessly infiltrated our lives over a year.

‘She told me three times that police checks would be made and I 100% thought they would. I thought something would come up and they would unmask him for what he was.

‘But I had a false sense of security, especially when they did not call me back. It broke my heart when I found out they had closed their inquiries an hour later.

‘I gave them evidence of sexual grooming, hacking and terrorist activities – I had no idea it would be shut down so quickly.’

Mrs LaFave, of Caterham, Surrey, who has 14-year-old triplets, is now dedicating her life to raising awareness of internet predators.

She believes the IPCC report focuses on the two frontline workers and does not highlight failings by those running Surrey Police.

He met Breck in an online gaming forum and spent months grooming him online, turning him against his family, his school and even his Christian faith. The 14-year-old was murdered at a block of flats in Essex (pictured)

‘If police took the appropriate action my son would still be alive today. I don’t know a lot about computers but I knew this man was manipulating my son.

‘How many other children are being groomed like this? Police told me Daynes was talking to a lot of other teenagers.

‘It is difficult to believe the IPCC stopped at the two people who handled my call. Who overseas the call handlers? Who stops them being untrained, incompetent and uncaring?’

Jennifer Izekor, of the IPCC, said: ‘Parents are increasingly aware that child abusers or extremists can use the internet to target potential victims online.

‘Where they have concerns, parents must be able to turn to the police, and expect those concerns to be taken seriously.

‘For that to happen, police call handlers need to be properly trained to recognise the danger signs and to give the right support and information.’

The 101 non-emergency number was introduced across Britain in 2011 and 2012 to try to relieve pressure on 999 emergency operators.

The public have been told to use it for everything except life-threatening emergencies or when crimes are taking place.

But critics have denounced it as a ‘waste of time’, with many callers waiting more than an hour to speak to a police employee. Surrey Police’s record is particularly poor, and Chief Constable Lynne Owens has admitted it is struggling to cope with demand.

She has blamed a new computer system, staff losses and the burden of training replacements, as well as a 5 per cent increase in the number of calls. Research by the Daily Mail revealed that callers in Surrey were waiting an average of 144 seconds, the second longest of any force in the country.

Comments (150)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

Enter your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Submit Comment Clear

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now