The devastated father of a schoolgirl who took her own life after being bullied by classmates has claimed her school asked children to “delete the messages” as police launched an investigation into her death.
Mia Janin, 14, was found dead at her home in Harrow, north London, in March 2021 after being bullied by classmates at the Jewish Free School (JFS) where she was a Year 10 student.
A coroner’s court ruled that she had killed herself “while still a child and while still in the process of maturing into adulthood” having “experienced bullying behaviour from some male students”.
Her father Mariano, who moved to the UK from Argentina with his wife Marisa in 2001, claims the school ordered an assembly where they urged children to “delete the messages”.
Much of the bullying had come from a Snapchat group, with the school denying they had asked the boys involved in the group to delete it.
Speaking to BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said: “I didn’t know about this online world. They say that she was bullied, we found a screenshot saying that she was prepared to be badly bullied, naming the kids that were bullying her.
“They organised in the school an assembly and asked the kids to delete the messages.
“My common sense says that if you have a police investigation and you have this potential group, you should notify the police – maybe this group of kids, they have information on their phone, but that’s what they did.”
Ms Kuenssberg also said the Metropolitan Police lost Mia’s phone “for a long time”, but are now arranging for it to be returned to her family.
The inquest into Mia’s death was held in Barnet Coroner’s Court in 2022 where details of the bullying emerged. The Snapchat group, involving 60 boys at the school, mocked her after she posted a video on TikTok.
One child who gave a statement to police, which was read out in court, said sick tormentors photoshopped girls’ faces onto pornographic images.
Mia’s father told how she had dreams of becoming a doctor or an architect. He said she had been happier during lockdown and had struggled with making friends at school.
The inquest later heard a voice note she had sent to a friend, in which she said: “I’m currently mentally preparing myself to get bullied tomorrow.” Her parents found her body in her bedroom the next morning on March 12.
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