Only BBC Scotland has this story:
Detectives in Scotland have joined international law enforcement in targeting online gangs which groom and coerce children into acts of self-harm. Officers are hunting members of loose online networks of sadists known as “The Com”, which mainly targets girls on gaming platforms and social media. The groups, mostly comprised of teenage and young adult males, have risen in prominence in recent years after cases involving sextortion and hacking, as well as self-harm encouragement. So far, there has been one arrest in Scotland, while there have been a handful of convictions in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6vg03xl0751o
So, to be clear, not one conviction in Scotland? England’s ‘handful of convictions?‘
Here they are:
- Justin Swaddle (Leeds, then 20): jailed for two years in August 2026 after admitting blackmail and child sexual abuse offences. He coerced more than 100 victims (eight in the UK) into self-harm and sexual activity, including carving usernames into their bodies.
- Cameron Finnigan (Horsham, West Sussex): jailed (six years with extended licence) in January 2025 after pleading guilty to encouraging suicide, possessing a terrorism manual and indecent images of a child, linked to 764.
- Elijah Palmer (Sheffield): sentenced in June 2026 (four years nine months plus extended licence) for encouraging serious self-harm and related sexual offences under the Online Safety Act, linked to 764.
- Dylan Phelan (West Yorkshire area): jailed for more than six years in June 2026 for encouraging an American man to take his own life on a video call (plus related image offences), linked to dark online groups.
- Vincent Charlton (Gateshead): jailed in 2024 for terrorism offences and possessing indecent images, with links to a 764-associated group.
- Richard Ehiemere (London area): convicted of fraud and indecent-image offences linked to the CVLT group; sentenced in 2025.
- At least one unnamed juvenile (Hampshire/Southampton area) received a rehabilitation order in 2026 after admitting encouraging/assisting self-harm and making indecent images, linked to 764.
Earlier reporting noted the NCA and Counter Terrorism Policing had made 14 arrests in a six-month period amid hundreds of referrals about Com activity, on top of prior investigations. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/online-self-harm-suicide-young-girls-5HjdWq6_2/
So one arrest only in Scotland, seven in jail in England and another 14 arrested there. Why is only BBC Scotland scaring its morning old folk with this? It has little informative value for us.
We already know:
Researchers have found that heavy consumption of negative news triggers the release of stress hormones and consequent increases in anxiety [i], [ii], [iii]. Studies of voting patterns have found that those with a ‘negativity bias’ derived from fear and anxiety about the world they live in, have a tendency to vote for conservative political groups promising to prevent change [iv], [v], [vi].
The implications of this for Scotland’s independence vote are clear to me and, I feel sure, to BBC Scotland’s senior staff. The lesser staff who made the ‘documentary’ are unlikely to consciously have this clear underlying purpose articulated but, under pressure to please those who have control over their income and their careers, semi-consciously make choices of what to include and how to present it, and ‘work toward them.’ Lesser mortals in Communist Russia, Nazi Germany or in Trump’s USA, did/do the same.
Sources:
[i] https://patient.info/news-and-features/is-watching-the-news-bad-for-your-mental-health
[ii] https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/11/strain-media-overload
[iii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9135112/
[iv] https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201612/fear-and-anxiety-drive-conservatives-political-attitudes
[v] https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2020/fear-motivator-elections
[vi] chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/158607199.pdf
Might this just be a one of?
No. See:
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You write “Only BBC Scotland headline it”
So what today is missing from their headlines ( so far) on the Scottish main page and Scottish politics page ?
BBC Website today.
Wales main page and Wales politics page:
“First minister urges Burnham to be serious about Wales”
The BBC’s Scotland page and Scottish politics page have, so far today, no corresponding headline on the BBC website, though Burnham is also meeting the Scottish FM together with the Welsh FM in Glasgow today.
In respect to Burnham’s devolution changes then the devil may indeed be in the detail, after all it is a devil of a Labour PM , who was also a former English Mayor, who is now also the one who is seeking to tinker with that (devolution) which is not broken, but which may indeed end up being broken, all because of his tinkering.
Burnham has recently made many announcements , which he says will help people during the cost of living crisis , but the kind of meagre ‘help’ that he has offered is so minimal that it’s impact will be negligible.
I assume Burnham’s advisor has advised him that with him just making these scattergun announcements , then this will make it seem as if he, Burnham, is trying to do something to help the people during these hard times.
However the reality is one where his superficial help is not offering long term respite nor permanent solutions, that is they are not a long term remedy that will ease the burden for many people , but it is merely him placing what amounts to a temporary sticking plaster on various critical problems that actually need far more permanent solutions in order for people to really finally have some breathing space.
Now Burnham is also talking about freedom of movement with the EU yet in December 2016 there was a headline in the Business Insider that stated:
“Andy Burnham says EU immigration risks ‘the safety of our streets'”
So what changed for Burnham ? Or did nothing actually change it’s just that he knows the economic damage Brexit has caused and he is seeking to gradually re-join the EU, even if it means freedom of movement between the EU and the UK which he once stated was “risking the safety of our (British) streets”.
As to immigration in the UK well if you wondered why Burnham retained Mahmood as his Home Secretary then the below headlines may explain that he is of the same mindset as her.
June 2026 Huffington Post
“Andy Burnham Says He Agrees With Nigel Farage On Housing Asylum Seekers”
July 2026 The Guardian
“Andy Burnham backs controversial asylum bill amid Labour dissent”
One thing you always have to remember about the Labour party and it is this:
They will say they are trying to do something that will be good for us, yet the reality is, what they are really trying to do is not that which they state .
The Tories, Reform UK and Restore Britain are being upfront about their plans for devolution, which amounts to either totally abolishing devolution in Scotland and Wales or removing a large amount of powers from the devolved governments, while Labour are attempting to dismantle devolution via the back door.
Burnham chose to not visit Scotland in his UK listening tour, but now he comes to Scotland, not to listen to what we in Scotland either want or need, but he comes to meet our FM and the Welsh FM to tell them his plans for devolution.
So basically Burnham is not interested in listening to us in Scotland as he, as the new Labour UK PM, will instead tell us what he wants to happen, which will suit the UK and also the Labour UK government far more than it will ever satisfy or meet our needs and wants within Scotland.
Also whatever Burnham intends to do to Scotland’s devolution, then Michael Marra the new Labour branch office manager , will no doubt support and so side with his HQ boss , long before he would ever dream of supporting and so siding with Scotland.
Burnham is as much a fraud as Starmer was , it’s just that he assumes he has perfected this public persona that appear to be one where he seems to be a man of the people, however his words and actions clearly contradict that as a reality.
Liz S
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