in-cumbria

Barrow abduction drama sparks internet warning

Last updated at 08:41, Wednesday, 22 August 2012

PARENTS are being warned to ensure their children know the dangers of using social networking sites.

On Friday, 42-year-old Mark Breckell was given 12 months’ supervision after admitting abducting a girl from Barrow.

Preston Crown Court heard that he had met the 14-year-old on a social networking site and then arranged to meet her at the Chetwynde Hotel in Barrow last September.

Breckell, of Rosslyn Crescent in Poulton-le-Fylde, claimed during Friday’s hearing he had no sexual intentions after he discovered the girl was under 16.

Following on from the court case, Detective Constable Lindsay Bolton, of Cumbria police’s public protection unit, told the Evening Mail parents need to be aware of how their children are using the internet, as there are people who will look to take advantage of children.

She said: “The warning signs tend to come when parents are not aware of what their children are doing and what they are accessing.

“One way this can be prevented is to have computers in a communal area, so that parents can have some level of surveillance.

“There is also software that can be used to monitor or limit access, and you can also check the history of what your child is accessing. The biggest problem is the social networking sites. I am fully aware they have dangers and it is difficult for parents to know exactly what is going on.”

DC Bolton said parents should also limit the amount of information they put on sites, and that parents can monitor their children’s profiles by checking them or becoming friends with them online.

Children are also being taught of the perils of the internet in schools and earlier this year thousands of activities were organised by National Safer Internet Day committees to reflect on the way people present themselves on the web in spaces ranging from social networks and dating sites to online role-playing games.