At the beginning of this century, when the internet was new for most people - and before the social media giants claimed their turf - chatrooms were very popular, especially with teenagers.

Mark was 16 and lived in Stockport in the north-west of England. He was a regular on the Manchester Teens chatroom. But whilst he was there to have some fun and chat to girls, not everyone he spoke to had such simple motives. As he was soon to discover...

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Writing Credit:
Gemma Gould
Part of the bylines network.
When not listening to true crime or walking her dogs you can find Gemma on twitter at this link: https://twitter.com/gemmagould

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Sources:
https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/mark-and-john-the-fantasists
https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/article/the-boy-who-incited-his-own-murder
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2004/may/29/crime.uknews
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/02/bachrach200502
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/boy-14-posed-as-spy-to-arrange-his-own-murder-565124.html
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/internet-murder-boys-told-never-1110248