The High Court in London has ordered a new inquest into the death of 14-year-old Jools Roome, who died in April 2022. The decision overturns a previous inquiry that lasted only 23 minutes and heard no oral evidence, following a legal challenge by his mother, Ellen Roome.
Roome believes social media played a role in her son's death, pointing to an "online challenge gone wrong." Lawyers representing Roome argued that a number of potential lines of inquiry had not been pursued in the initial investigation. This included evidence suggesting Jools had been contacted by a fraudulent Instagram account operated by an African crime gang shortly before his death, and indications of a possible attempted "sextortion." Neither of these avenues were explored in the 2022 ruling.
Lord Justice Warby stated that a new inquest was desirable because "clear there are various potential lines of inquiry" that had not been previously considered. Harry Lambert, representing Roome, informed the court of a "considerable body of new evidence and a number of investigative insufficiencies," particularly concerning the role of TikTok.
Ellen Roome is among five British parents separately suing TikTok in the United States, alleging their children's deaths were linked to the platform. She expressed hope that the new inquest would not only uncover the truth about Jools's death but also contribute to making the online world safer for children.
"Every bereaved family deserves to know that every possible avenue, including a child's digital life, has been properly investigated," Roome said. "Our greatest hope is that one day no family has to walk this path. No parent should ever have to bury their child because dangerous content was allowed to reach them."
This ruling comes as Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, announced its own investigation into TikTok over potential failures to prevent children from accessing harmful content. Ofcom is questioning the effectiveness of the platform's age verification methods, which rely on 'age inference' based on user activity.
"We found some methods of age checks... are not working well enough," said Kate Davies, Ofcom's group director for strategy and research. "We have serious doubts about them and so we have launched an investigation into TikTok."
A TikTok spokesman stated the company is confident it meets its Online Safety Act obligations and will cooperate with Ofcom to demonstrate this.
