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Sam Leeson, 13 from Gloucestershire, England hanged himself in his bedroom apparently after suffering months of bullying online on Bebo.

The boy’s mother came to know about it when she checked his profile after his death.

Bebo is an online social media network, founded in January 2005.

Sam’s profile contained pictures he had taken of himself, showing his assymetrical fringe and dark hair. Other Bebo users had allegedly taunted him over his “emo” appearance.

Sam Leeson (Credit – The Sun)

Emo, short for “emotional’ is a style of hardcore punk which describes several independent variations of music with common stylistic roots. In the mid-1980s, the term emo described a subgenre of hardcore punk which originated in the Washington, D.C. music scene.
In recent years, it has been associated with gothic and punk subcultures, often stereotyped by assymetrical fringes and skinny black jeans.

According to his mother Sally Cope, 45, he was picked on by other users of the site because of his ‘alternative appearance’ and his taste in music. She said:

He was into his appearance and often wore his black skinny jeans. If anything can come from this utterly pointless death of a lovely boy we want to try and help.

Sam’s eldest sister Emma, 22, was also aware of bullying but she didn’t know it would become so serious.

Bullying had been going on and we are disgusted and angry.

Sam was a fan of alternative rock bands such as the Foo Fighters and Slipknot, as well as so-called Emo music, championed by bands such as blink-182 and Good Charlotte. He was one of five children born to Miss Cope and Chris Leeson, a 39-year- old builder.

According to The Daily Mail, Bebo users who taunted Sam on the site have since left messages apologising for their conduct. It is not known if they went to his school.

Bridgend’s Labour MP Madeleine Moon said memorial pages on Bebo and other websites showed “some sort of romanticism of death”. She said:

What is concerning is that you’re getting internet bereavement walls. That’s not going to help anyone. What people need is not to go into a virtual world of the internet to deal with emotional problems. They need to stay very much in this real world and talk to real people.

Four YouTube videos and a Bebo page have been set up as online memorials for Sam.