Vile trolls pose as autistic Glasgow teen who was brutally attacked in park

A Glasgow mum has been left sickened after Facebook trolls posed as her autistic daughter after she faced a brutal attack in a park.

A friend request arrived in the inbox of Angela Jarvis last week from a profile using Abbie's name and images. The 45-year-old was left horrified when she spotted that the account had shared a post claiming the teen deserved to be attacked.

The profile also shared images of Abbie's injuries following the vicious assault. The post read: "The day this happened, I kind of deserved it."

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It comes almost two years after the then 12-year-old was lured to a skatepark in Drumchapel before she was battered and filmed in October 2022, reports the Record.

Abbie was hospitalised with serious injuries following the incident.

Angela said: "I thought Abbie was adding me as a friend because she had been off social media for some time.

"When I scrolled through the profile and saw this vile post, it was clear this was not my daughter.

"It is disgusting that someone would set up a fake account in her name.

"I am appalled and sickened that somebody would take the time out of their day to do this to her."

Abbie, now 14, has suffered crippling PTSD following the brutal beating and has since been unable to return to school.

It is the second time trolls have targeted the youngster over the assault after scammers set up a fundraiser in her name earlier this year.

Angela said: "Every time this happens, it leaves Abbie feeling frustrated, afraid and vulnerable.

"As a mum, it makes me furious.

"The accusations in the post were vile. She doesn't want people to think these claims are true.

"Luckily I saw the account before Abbie because I knew it would knock her mentally downhill again.

"She is stronger and it hasn't affected her as much as what it would have a year ago - but when she sees accounts pretending to be her - it's a kick to the stomach."

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Angela reported the fake profile and posts to Meta, which owns Facebook, multiple times.

However, the account was only deactivated after the Record stepped in to highlight its credibility to Facebook.

The incident comes just weeks after regulator Ofcom announced new measures to protect children online. The 14-year-old was awarded Teenager of Courage at the 2024 Pride of Scotland awards for her bravery.

The angered mum still believes tech giants aren't doing enough to protect children online.

She added: "To have been campaigning about online bullying for more than a year and for this to happen to Abbie again is just another kick in the teeth.

"It's clear to me that these regulations aren't being followed by Facebook. If they were, fake profiles in the names of children wouldn't be appearing.

"There needs to be more pressure on social media platforms to protect our children from harm. I reported this profile multiple times yet it remained active for days.

"It wasn't until the media got involved and brought it to Meta's attention that it was taken down. It's frustrating that parents aren't being listened to.

"A report on a social media profile should be investigated immediately - these kinds of pages shouldn't be allowed to stay online.

"There is no point in Ofcom introducing new measures if social media platforms won't follow them."

NSPCC said the content was "unacceptable" as the children's welfare charity called on Facebook to prioritise its duty of care for young users.

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A spokesperson said: “Bullying content like this is deeply upsetting to the victims, their families and other young people who view it. This harm is unacceptable and can have a devastating impact on the physical and mental health of children. Tech firms need to make their duty of care to young users a priority. For too long, they have been too slow to proactively identify and tackle the risks to children’s safety and wellbeing on their sites.

“Now that we have an Online Safety Act, tech companies will be legally required to make sure their platforms are safe by design for children. We urge tech firms to get ahead of the curve and take immediate action to protect children.”

Scottish Labour’s Justice spokesperson MSP Pauline McNeill said: “This incident is yet another example of the vile bullying and victimisation that is taking place across social media platforms every day. It’s not acceptable that it took Meta so long to act to remove this abusive content.

“Meta and all the social media platforms have a duty to do more to prevent bullying and harmful behaviours on their sites. Reporting abuse must be made easier, creating fake profiles must be made harder and action must be taken far more quickly when abuse is identified.”

The Record approached Meta for comment.