Breck Bednar was born March 17, 1999, in Caterham, Surrey. His parents Lorin LaFave and Barry Bednar were originally from the US, but moved to the UK in 1996 for work.
Breck was one of four children, Lorin and Barry had triplets in 2002. Although the couple split up some years later, both were still very present in the children’s lives, and Breck would stay at his fathers house often.
Breck was into computer games and would regularly play online with his friends from school. Over time, his mum Lorin noticed Breck becoming more isolated.
One member of the gaming group that hadn’t gone to school with the other boys was Lewis Daynes. At 19-years-old, he was considerably older than Breck and his friends, Breck being just 14 at the time. Daynes was unemployed and lived alone in a flat in Grays, Essex. That isn’t what Daynes told the gaming group though. He told Breck and his friends that he was a multimillionaire, working for the U.S. Department of Defence, and that he worked in New York, Dubai and Syria.
The friends used TeamSpeak to chat while playing games together (a now defunct program, similar to Discord, that allows users to message and chat to each other using voice.) Lewis Daynes was the admin of the chat they used, so was able to mute and “expel” members whenever he wanted. He used this power to manipulate the friends, and while Breck’s friends started to become annoyed at Daynes behaviour, Breck was growing increasingly loyal to him.
Breck began to almost idolise Daynes, bringing him up multiple times a day. It was starting to put a strain on Breck’s relationships with friends and family.
Lorin was worried. She believed Daynes was lying about everything he was telling Breck. Lorin had heard Daynes on multiple occasions expressing his anti-government beliefs to Breck. Fearing for her sons safety and worrying that he was being groomed for either sex or to carry out terrorist attacks, Lorin called the police on December 17, 2013. She spoke to ther operator for 12 minutes, voicing her concerns multiple times. The operator told her that police checks would be carried out on Daynes and if warranted, an investigation would take place. Despite this, the inquiry was closed after one hour without any checks taking place.
Lorin tried to limit Brecks access to his computer and had forbidden him from using his server, but it was impossible for Lorin to completely control what her son did online.
Breck was going to stay with his father over the February half term. He told his father he would be there on the morning of Monday 17th February, 2014, as he was having a sleepover at a friends house the night before (Sunday, 16 February, 2014).
The reality was that Breck was actually planning on meeting Lewis Daynes for the first time.
On the evening of Sunday 16th, Breck left the family home in Caterham and got into a taxi which had been paid for by Lewis Daynes, and travelled 30 miles to Grays.
At 11:06am on Monday 17 February, Essex police received a call from a man asking for police and a forensic team because he and a friend had gotten into an “altercation” where “only one of us came out alive”. He said his friend was “trying to kill himself”.
“I grabbed the knife and stabbed him in the back of the neck, I believe somewhere near the brainstem. I don’t remember exactly what happened but the fight ended with me cutting his throat.”
When police arrived at the scene, they found the body of 14-year-old Breck Bednar.
It became obvious very quickly that Lewis Daynes versions of events he had told over the phone weren’t true. There had been no altercation between the two. Brecks’s wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape and his throat had been cut. His bloody clothes were found in a bin bag inside the flat. Police also found all of Dayne’s electronic devices submerged in water in the sink. Police arrested Lewis Daynes at the scene.
Daynes maintained that Breck’s murder was accidental, even though he had brought duct tape, condoms and syringes online before the murder.
Lewis Daynes’ trial was due to begin on November 25, 2014, but in a shock move, he changed his plea to guilty during his pre-trial hearing.
Daynes’ sentencing took place on January 12, 2015.
During sentencing Mrs Justice Cox said:
“Having lured the young victim to your flat, you murdered him. You had befriended Breck and a number of other adolescent friends through an online community. I’m sure that this murder was driven by sadistic or sexual motivation.”
Lewis Daynes was sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum of 25 years. He will be 44 years old before being considered for release.
After his sentencing, Breck’s mother Lorin said:
“No amount of years behind bars will ever change the poisonous attitude and actions of a psychotic animal who can behave this way.”
