Police Handout
Just over a year after 15-year-old Kayleigh Hayward was groomed online and brutally raped and murdered, police have created a horrifying film depicting her final 13 days of life.
Mirror reports the British teenager began chatting online to a man called Luke Harlow two weeks before the murder. Her father dropped her off outside her school, thinking that she was staying overnight with her best friend, when really she was meeting up with Harlow. Her father, Martin, was the last person to see her alive on November 13, 2015.
When Kayleigh arrived at the man’s flat, he gave her alcohol and sexually assaulted her. The next day, she was raped and murdered by landscape gardener Stephen Beadman, who Harlow had invited over.
Kayleigh’s friend Katie Simpson told the court that the last she heard from Kayleigh was a simple text, which read: ‘help’.
“At about 3.15pm on November 13 Kayleigh messaged me and said she couldn’t come over because she was staying with her auntie that weekend,” Katie said.
“I woke up at about 6am or 7am the next day and I had a message from Kayleigh sent at 9.30pm the night before which said ‘Help’.
“I asked her straight away what do you mean. She texted back straight away, ‘I meant hello.’
“Her messages were unusual that weekend, and didn’t sound like her.”
Stephen Beadman was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape, false imprisonment and murder of Kayleigh Hayward, and Luke Harlow was sentenced to 12 years in jail for false imprisonment and grooming.
Leicester Police have worked with Kayleigh’s parents to make this powerful video called ‘Kayleigh’s Love Story’ about her final 13 days of life as a warning to teenagers talking to strangers online, and their parents who may not notice the warning signs.
Leicestershire’s Deputy Chief Constable Roger Bannister said: “What happened to Kayleigh was horrific but we are pleased that some good is coming from the awful tragedy and that this film is raising far greater awareness of the dangers of online grooming and the signs that it may be happening.”
