A teenage boy was sentenced in a British court on Friday for assuming false personas in an Internet chat room in order to induce an online friend to try to kill him. The boy who was convicted, 14 at the time of the events in question, fooled his friend, then 15, with an "elaborate matrix" of fictional identities, including that of a spy, in the chat room, the court was told.
Acting on the "spy's" orders, the older boy tried to kill the younger one, stabbing him in the chest and stomach in June of last year, leaving wounds that required hospitalization.
The court, which identified the older boy only as "Boy A" and the younger one as "Boy B," sentenced them both on Friday.
Boy A, who had pleaded guilty to attempted murder, was sentenced to two years of supervision to be overseen by probation officers, police and social workers.
Boy B, who had pleaded guilty to obstructing the course of justice and incitement to murder, was given three years of supervision, was barred from chat rooms and was told he could only have access to Internet under adult supervision.
"It's staggering to be dealing with a case that arises out of a boy's invention of false personalities, false relationships and events arranged for his own killing at the hands of a boy who he had met via an Internet chat room," Judge David Maddison said while sentencing the teens in Manchester Crown Court.
Belinda Sproston, an Internet expert, said the case showed how confused children can become in conversations on Internet chat rooms about the difference between fantasy and reality.
According to testimony, Boy B persuaded the older boy to carry out the attack by pretending to be a middle-age female spy who would reward him with sex and money and help him become a spy himself.
Detective Chief Inspector Julian Ross, who led the investigation for the Manchester police, said he believed that Boy B had launched the scam in an effort to commit suicide.
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