Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

A Social Media Murder: Olly's Story

In 2021, 13-year-old Olly Stephens was stabbed to death by two teenagers after an online dispute. Marianna Spring investigates the violent and disturbing world Olly had become caught up in.

Thirteen-year-old Olly Stephens left home for the final time on a Sunday afternoon in January 2021, telling his parents he was meeting a friend nearby. Fifteen minutes later, he had been murdered. Lured out by a teenage girl and stabbed to death by two teenage boys she had met online, the entire attack was planned on social media and triggered by a dispute on a chat group. With exclusive access to Olly鈥檚 parents Amanda and Stuart, Panorama reporter Marianna Spring investigates the violent and disturbing world their son had been exposed to online and follows their campaign for tighter regulations on harmful content.

29 minutes

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:27

    Florence + The Machine

    Bird Song

Credits

Role Contributor
Reporter Marianna Spring
Director Alys Cummings
Producer Alys Cummings
Executive Producer Leo Telling
Editor Karen Wightman

Broadcasts

Explore the wider challenges that people with a learning disability face in society, and how this impacts on their health

Find out more with The Open University.