The Sunday Times June 5, 2022 11
NEWS
with information that could shed more
light on Mia’s death.
The family know that she used her
smartphone to log onto a social media
app, either Houseparty or Yolo, after
midnight, shortly before she died. Her
father worries that a video or message
may have tipped her over the edge.
“I do not want any other parent to be in
my shoes,” he said. “This whole experi-
ence has been a nightmare that is too hor-
rible to explain. Every day feels as though
I am living in slow motion. Parents with
information — please take it to the coro-
ner. We need to know what happened for
the sake of other children as well as for
Mia. Do not close ranks.”
It is a case that has disturbing similari-
ties with that of Molly Russell, 14, who
killed herself at home late at night in 2017
after viewing messages on social media.
The coroner, Andrew Walker, is han-
dling the inquests on Mia and Molly. Thepolice are also investigating whether
there are any links between the deaths of
the three JFS pupils. Molly’s father, Ian, is
supporting the Janin family in demand-
ing answers.
Mia’s parents chose the JFS because
they were impressed by its once-out-
standing ranking and strong academic
record. The 2,000-pupil school, whose
alumnae include the All Saints singer Mel-
anie Blatt and the actress Gina Bellman, is
the biggest Jewish school in Europe and
regularly sends pupils to Oxford and
Cambridge.
But Ofsted inspectors sent into the
school for an emergency inspection a few
weeks after Mia’s death stripped the
school of its “good” ranking, downgrad-
ing it to the regulator’s lowest, “inade-
quate”.
The report, published in June last year,
said: “Not all pupils observe appropriate
boundaries. Relationships between some
pupils are damaged by unchallenged,
inappropriate behaviour.
“In some cases, this has escalated to
harmful behaviour, including sexual har-
assment. Many pupils report sexual bul-
lying, including via social media.”
After Mia’s death, JFS joined other Jew-
ish schools to warn parents about the
dangers of social media. Assemblies
about sexting — which includes sending
text messages with sexual language and
nude photos — were held at the school
and parents given advice on supervising
their teenagers’ phone use at night.
Hundreds of people signed a petition
started by a girl in Mia’s year calling on
JFS to “prioritise mental health”. The
pupil wrote that Mia had been “brutally
bullied for a long time”.
It is understood that staff at the school
at the time have been referred to external
agencies for investigation. The staff are
no longer at the school.
Some pupils left after Mia’s death, say-
ing they did not feel safe.
The next hearing into Mia’s death is on
Wednesday. By then, the police will have
unlocked Mia’s phone and the family
hopes vital information will be revealed.
But they are concerned about the long
delay and fear messages and apps will
have disappeared. Two apps Mia used —Phone message
may have tipped
Mia over the edge
The final time that Mia Janin, 14, was
driven to school by her father, she was
full of plans.
It was the first day of school after lock-
down in March last year, and she was
excited to see her friends after being
cooped up at home.
“She said her friend Evie had invited
her to Greece for the summer but she
would need some smart clothes because
they went to fancy restaurants. She was
planning to go to Poppie’s, the fish and
chip restaurant in Camden [north Lon-
don], with her friends,” said her father,
Mariano, an architect. “That was Mia. She
was looking forward. She was fine.”
The next morning he was in his room
when he heard his wife, Marisa, also an
architect, make “the most horrible
noise”.
Going to wake Mia for breakfast, she
had discovered her daughter dead in the
bathroom.
The year 10 pupil, described by her
father as “artistic, spontaneous, unique”
with dreams of becoming a doctor, had
killed herself in the early hours. She was
the third pupil at her Jewish state school
to kill herself since 2017.
When she got home that day, she had
asked her parents if she could move to a
different school.
In a voice message sent to a friend that
week, Mia, who had no history of mental
health problems and was excelling at her
schoolwork, sobs: “Oh my God, tomor-
row is going to be a rough day, stand by
me. I am taking deep breaths in and out
... I am mentally preparing myself to get
bullied by him and all of his boyfriends
tomorrow... look at my TikTok ... they
got my video removed. Why are they so
offended? All I said is your music is shit, I
do not like the clothes you make and it
is true.”
Despite the key evidence that is stored
on the phone and is central to any investi-
gation, Mia’s own phone, which was
handed over to the police at the time of
her death, remained locked for months.
Mariano is calling on parents and
pupils at the Jewish Free School ( JFS) in
Kenton, north London, to come forward
Sian Griffiths Education Editor
A father fears social media bullying had a role in his child’s death
Houseparty and Yolo — no longer exist.
Ian Russell said “a streamlined process
for gathering data from social media
sites, smartphones and laptops in such
terrible cases is urgently needed” so that
families did not have to turn detective at a
time when they were reeling with grief.
The Russell family’s quest to discover
whether Molly may have killed herself
after viewing, or being sent, material
about anxiety, depression, self-harm and
suicide on social media sites including
Instagram, has so far taken five years of
investigation.Twelve days before a final inquest was
due earlier this year, Facebook finally
released “15 files of data”, Russell says.
Molly’s inquest has now been delayed
until September to give the family time to
sift through it.
He said: “A key part of the learning
process is the timely submission of data
in a form accessible to a coroner investi-
gating a death to see if lessons can be
learnt quickly. Cases like Mariano’s
remind us how important it is that a proc-
ess is developed so that bereaved parents
do not have to use their energy to investi-
gate and try to get the data to prevent
future tragedies.”
David Moody, the new head at JFS,
who joined after Mia’s death, said: “All
aspects of this case are currently being
investigated by external agencies includ-
ing the police and coroner’s office. Like
the family, the school is waiting for the
findings of the external investigations to
be published and we hope that the publi-
cation will be as soon as possible. JFS is a
school that is always looking to improve
and we will ensure that any recommen-
dations or conclusions are acted upon.”
The Metropolitan Police said:
“Throughout this investigation officers
have ensured the girl’s family have been
updated with the progress of this work. A
final report will be provided to the coro-
ner ... At this time, no evidence of crimi-
nality has been found.”
A few months after Mia died, her
mother, Marisa, died from an aggressive
form of sudden-onset cancer, which her
husband believes was triggered by stress
brought about from Mia’s death and try-
ing to investigate the circumstances sur-
rounding it. Mother and daughter are
buried alongside each other in Israel.
Mia’s bedroom is largely untouched.
Her chemistry homework is half-finished
in her exercise book and Jane Eyre sits
among books on her shelf. Her swing is
still in the garden.
Mia’s family has been supported by
Rethink Mental Illness’s Support after
Suicide service. If you are affected by any
of the issues raised in this article, call the
Samaritans on 116 123 or visit
samaritans.orgThe
phone
stayed
locked
for
monthsMia Janin logged
on to a social
media app
shortly before
she killed herself,
says her father
Mariano, leftVICKI COUCHMAN FOR THE SUNDAY TIMESBritain’s knife crime chief is
urging a clampdown on
machetes as youths are
increasingly turning to the
weapon to inflict maximum
injury on rivals.
Deputy Assistant
Commissioner Graham
McNulty said the trend for the
larger blades, which are legal
and traditionally used in
agriculture, is being fuelled
by a perception among gangs
that “bigger is better”.
He said: “The
consequences of being
stabbed by a machete are
really serious. I’m talking to
government about these
types of knives — [about] the
Dipesh Gadher
Home Affairs Correspondent
machete in your shed and
you say you’re cutting things
down in your garden, then of
course that’s legal.
Unfortunately, some forces
are seeing these types of
knives on the street. Young
people seem to want ‘bigger
is better’. It gives them more
distance in a knife fight, they
can cause more [internal]
injuries and it’s intimidating.”
Last month Ricky Morgan,
34, was convicted of
attempted murder after
launching an unprovoked
machete attack in a London
Underground train carriage.
The victim, James Porritt,
who suffered injuries to his
head, right hand and shin,
compared the incident last
summer to a scene from thefilm The Terminator, starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I
genuinely thought he was
going to kill me,” Porritt said.
Although there is no
breakdown of the types of
weapon used in knife crime
offences, McNulty said police
had noticed a growing
prevalence in the use of
machetes “over the last
couple of years”.
Knife crime fell by 4.5 per
cent from a record 49,
incidents in 2020 to 46,950 in
2021 due to lockdown but he
warned that they could soon
return to pre-pandemic
levels. “At the core of this...
is keeping our communities
safe and keeping young
people safe,” he said.
@DipeshGadherinjuries they cause and what
more we can do to try to
ensure that they’re not
getting into the hands of
young people.”
In June last year a 17-year-
old boy was taken to hospital
with stab wounds after a fight
between youths wielding
machetes in Hyde Park,
London. Shocking images of
the “brazen violence”, as it
was described by police, went
viral on social media. A boy,
also 17, was arrested on
suspicion of affray.
McNulty, a senior Scotland
Yard officer and the lead on
knife crime for the National
Police Chiefs’ Council,
cautioned that an outright
ban would be difficult.
He said: “If you’ve got asays, staff were under
pressure and she had not
reached the necessary stage
to warrant admission.
“I broke down in tears,”
Kelly said. “I got home but I
was still having contractions
all day. My waters broke and I
started to push.” The
ambulance sent to return her
to the hospital had to pull
over on the A75, where baby
Edith was born.
Kelly added: “I lodged a
complaint because I did not
get the safe birth I deserved.
My previous baby, Imogen,
got stuck in the birth canal
and had to be resuscitated. If
that had happened again, I
don’t know what the outcome
could have been.”
The Scottish government
said it wanted a healthcare
system that “puts the needs
of patients, no matter where
they live, at its heart”. It plans
to develop a national centre
for remote and rural health
and social care.Whithorn, on Scotland’s
southwest coast, was told to
travel to Dumfries and
Galloway Royal Infirmary
nearly 70 miles away
when she went into labour at
home.
Her partner, Kieran Vance,
drove his own car in front,
with McCrone and her
mother, Kay, following in the
Hyundai. “I told my mum
there was no way we were
going to make it to the
hospital,” said McCrone. “We
called the hospital and asked
what we should do and they
replied, ‘Do what you think.’ I
hung up. By the time Kieran
turned his car around, she
[Isabella] was already here.”
Debbie Kelly, 41, already
had five children so knew
what contractions felt like
when she went into labour
last November. Yet she was
sent home from Dumfries
Royal Infirmary nearly 50
miles from her home in
Newton Stewart because, sheIsabella Vance entered the
world in the front passenger
seat of her mother’s Hyundai.
On her birth certificate, it
says that she was born on the
“A714, at road end of
Cairnhouse Farm, Wigtown”.
Such births are not
uncommon in Scotland, and
illustrate why a petition this
week will call for an
independent watchdog to
oversee medical services in
outlying areas.
The petition, promoted by
the Galloway Community
Hospital Action Group, will
ask the Holyrood parliament
to urge the Scottish
government to create a
specialist agency to ensure
“fair” and “reasonable”
management of rural and
remote healthcare.
The Scottish Ambulance
Service, which transfers
patients living in remote
areas, has begun aPaul Druryconsultation on how it should
develop its services.
Dr Angela Armstrong, a
retired GP backing the
campaign, said: “There are a
lot of inequalities in health
services in rural areas. What
we want is someone
independent of government
to be a watchdog and be able
to say: ‘Is this right or not?’”
Nearly one in five Scots live
in rural areas. Higher risk
births for women living on
the Shetland Islands require a
260-mile trip to Aberdeen.
Baby Isabella’s mother,
Megan McCrone, 26, a
primary school teaching
assistant from Isle ofIsabella, left, and Edith both
arrived en route to hospitalGangs unsheathe machetes in
fight to inflict maximum pain
Baby ‘born on the A714’ shows how
rural healthcare fails to deliver