Lewis Daynes, 19, who enticed a 14-year-old he encountered online before committing murder, will face a minimum term of 25 years.
A teenager who lured a 14-year-old kid online before inflicting a fatal throat slash in a sexual and cruel assault has received a minimum punishment of 25 years in prison.
Computer engineer Lewis Daynes, 19, confessed to the murder of Breck Bednar after enticing him to his residence in Greys, Essex, on 17 February of the previous year.
Breck informed his parents that he was spending the night at a friend’s residence in Caterham, Surrey, but clandestinely journeyed to see Lewis Daynes after months of communication in an online gaming forum.
Daynes using duct tape to restrain his young victim by the wrists and ankles before slashing his throat, resulting in death within seconds.
Prosecutors indicated that evidence of sexual interaction existed between the individuals soon prior to the homicide, and thereafter, Lewis Daynes transmitted images of Breck Bednar’s bloodied corpse to two of his online acquaintances.
During the sentencing of Lewis Daynes at Chelmsford Crown Court, Judge Mrs. Justice Cox mandated a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years, indicating that he will be at least 44 years old upon his release.
Cox stated: After enticing the young victim to your residence, you proceeded to murder him. You formed friendships with Breck Bednar and many other adolescent peers via an online community.
Your interactions with Breck Bednar intensified in a malevolent manner. The specific circumstances of the events in your flat remain ambiguous and may remain unknown indefinitely. I am certain that this murder was motivated by sadistic or sexual impulses.
Concerns arose regarding the police’s management of the investigation, when it was revealed that Lewis Daynes had been apprehended on suspicion of raping and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old alleged victim three years prior to his attack on Breck Bednar.
The Essex police received reports of these incidents in 2011, nevertheless the force opted not to pursue any action. They were subsequently re-investigated when Lewis Daynes was summoned for interrogation over Breck’s murder.
In November, The Guardian disclosed that Breck’s parents, Barry Bednar and Lorin LaFave, initiated legal proceedings against the Essex and Surrey police departments about their management of the matter. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has initiated enquiries into the two police units.
Lewis Daynes, known online as EagleOneSix, formed a friendship with Breck in the internet gaming club TeamSpeak, where the 19-year-old was characterised as the dominant orchestrator.
The duo engaged in war games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield for hours, during which Lewis Daynes asserted that he was employed by the US government and assured Breck of substantial income via a fictitious computer enterprise.
LaFave, 47, a teaching assistant from Michigan, became increasingly apprehensive that Lewis Daynes was exploiting her son, prompting her to confront him online before reaching out to Surrey police in December 2013 due to profound concerns that he was being groomed and controlled by the older individual. Notwithstanding this assessment, the family contends that no measures were implemented to avert Lewis Daynes from committing the murder two months subsequently.
Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC informed the court that Lewis Daynes procured condoms, duct tape, and syringes online in anticipation of the assault, thereafter providing Breck with a fabricated alibi should his parents enquire about his visit to a friend.
Following the stabbing of the 14-year-old in the neck, Lewis Daynes disseminated images of the body to at least two individuals and propagated news of Breck Bednar’s demise online.
Lewis Daynes thereafter showered and changed his attire before dialling 999, asserting in a composed manner that he had stabbed Breck Bednar while attempting to prevent him from ending his life.
During the conversation, Lewis Daynes asserted that he and the 14-year-old had engaged in an argument, stating: Only one of us emerged alive.
The perpetrator recounted his narrative with dispassionate clarity, informing the operator: I seized the knife and inflicted a stab wound to the back of the neck, presumably near the brain stem. I cannot recall the precise events, but the altercation concluded with my severing his throat.
When questioned by the operator if he was admitting to having killed someone, he responded succinctly: Yes, I am.
Upon the police’ arrival at his residence, they discovered Breck Bednar’s body lying in the bedroom. Lewis Daynes had immersed his computer equipment in water to obliterate evidence.
In mitigation, Lewis Daynes’ counsel, Simon Mayo QC, stated that the 19-year-old had endured profound emotions of rejection and loneliness throughout his life, having been placed in local authority care at an early age following his mother’s relocation abroad. Mayo stated that he felt more at home in the virtual realm than in reality.
Outside the courtroom, Crown Prosecutor Jenny Hopkins stated: Our argument was that Lewis Daynes, although being only 18 at the time of Breck’s death, was a domineering and manipulative person who meticulously orchestrated this atrocity.
He exploited Breck Bednar’s passion in computer games online, manipulating him over several months and alienating him from his family.
One month prior to the awful occurrence of Breck Bednar’s demise, Daynes was evidently orchestrating and strategising, procuring duct tape and several other goods online. He provided Breck with a cell phone and transmitted instructions via text regarding the falsehoods Breck should convey to his family to facilitate his travel to Lewis Daynes’ residence in Greys, Essex.
Instances of young individuals being groomed online have been observed; nonetheless, it is uncommon for such situations to result in a horrific and violent murder.
The extent of preparation and manipulation exhibited by Lewis Daynes is astonishing, and when one contemplates the tender ages of both the culprit and the victim, it emerges as one of the most heinous, violent, and atypical cases we have encountered.
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