A British man, Dylan Phelan, has been sentenced to six years and four months in jail for encouraging the suicide of a 21-year-old US citizen, Travis Dyer, during a video call. The incident occurred in October 2024, and the court heard that Phelan had been a member of a private Discord server called 'Recovery4all', which was created to discuss mental health issues.
However, the court found that Phelan and his co-conspirators had used the server to taunt and worsen Dyer's mental health. Dyer had been through numerous personal hardships, including the death of his mother and sister, which had caused his mental health to decline. Despite reaching out to the group in the hope of finding support, Dyer was instead convinced to carve his co-conspirators' initials into his skin and to buy drugs and alcohol.
The court heard that during the final call, Phelan goaded Dyer to kill himself, telling him to 'pull the trigger' and laughing. Dyer's body was only found after one of the other men in the group told someone outside that he had died. Phelan was brought into police custody by his parents after a woman with whom he had an online correspondence informed them that he may have played a role in Dyer's death.
Phelan was also found guilty of possession of extreme pornographic images and making an indecent image of a child. He was made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order alongside his prison sentence.
The judge, Barry Cotter, described Phelan's actions as 'morbid curiosity' that had led to Dyer's death. He said that Dyer had needed 'help and support' but had received the 'very opposite' from Phelan.