"Today the web has made the very darkest material available to almost all children'

IT HAS been described by hardened police and lawyers as one of the most distressing and brutal murders they have ever dealt with.

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The fatal stabbing in February last year of Brianna Ghey by 16-year-olds Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe focuses attention once more on the dark side of the internet.

While we will never truly know why the pair, then aged just 15, were motivated to kill Brianna, 16, by repeatedly stabbing her with a hunting knife in a "frenzied attack", there is plenty we can glean from the circumstances surrounding the atrocity.

They were described in court as "really clever kids" from middle-class families, albeit "warped" with a level of arrogance. But as a consultant psychiatrist used to working with damaged patients, I was unsurprised to read about the pernicious influence of the internet and social media in this most harrowing of cases.

Today the web has made the very darkest, dehumanising available to almost material children all regardless of age or background. It is a wild west of extreme content and casual bullying and hate, beyond the imaginings of most decent people.

Even legitimately, material of an horrific and disturbing nature is so readily available via smartphone or tablet that many more children than we could possibly know are at risk of becoming profoundly damaged, despite the best efforts of parents.

That does not include the so-called "dark" web, of which at least one of Brianna's killers was an enthusiastic consumer. Indeed, it's no exaggeration to suggest we are in danger of creating a generation of victims and predators.

Even if you sensibly warn your children not to accept sweets from strangers, the internet delivers graphic violence, pornography, racism, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, hate and bullying, all in your own home.