Schoolboy Ronan Hughes takes own life after posting pictures of himself online in blackmail plot

IT WAS the cruel trick that had devastating consequences.
An innocent Northern Irish schoolboy was duped into posting pictures of himself online.
At first it seemed like a stupid mistake but then it took a sinister twist.
The perpetrators behind the awful prank began blackmailing the 17-year-old for cash.
It is not known how long the extortion continued, but it was long enough to cause young Ronan such distress that he took his own life.
Now, Northern Ireland police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
At his funeral in his hometown of Clonoe in County Tyrone on Tuesday, St Patrick’s Church parish priest Father Benny Fee told mourners the teenager was the victim of a “heinous crime”.
“Ronan did not take his own life but his life was taken from him, and somewhere in the world, maybe far, far away from Clonoe, is a man, a woman or a gang who are guilty of a heinous crime,” the BBC reported.
“People took advantage of his youth and his beauty. They exploited him and they broke him. And if they could do it to him, they could do it to anyone. May God forgive them.”

Hundreds of mourners attended the service to say goodbye to the teenager, including his friends and fellow classmates from his school, St Joseph’s Grammar in Donaghmore, who formed a guard of honour at the church.
The school’s principal Geraldine Donnelly told The Mirror that Ronan’s death appeared to be more than just a case of online bullying.
“This is something different and even more sinister than online or cyber bullying and I think it’s important that message gets out to young people and gets out to parents and gets out to teachers,” she said.
“What we’re possibly looking at is some international element, of Ronan having been targeted from abroad purely to extort and blackmail him for money.”
According to reports, police in Northern Ireland confirmed blackmail was a line of inquiry.
However they have also said the teen’s death was not suspicious.
It was also reported that Ronan had told his parents about the cyber bullying and had made a complaint to police.
But sadly it still ended in tragedy.
Father Fee blamed the “faceless people” for the teenager’s death.
“He did not take his own life,” he told The Irish Mirror. “His life was taken by these faceless people who put the child into a burning building that he felt he could not escape.
“It is a total and absolute tragedy but it is a different kind of tragedy because there is an element of cyber crime involved.
“It would frighten any of us how children can be the victim of these faceless individuals. These people had something that they were using as a lever to frighten the child.
“But he had told his parents and they went to the police. It is just so tragic that these faceless people have robbed a family and community of a much loved child.”