Even in death, my Natasha cannot escape the bullies: Father’s disgust at sick taunts on Facebook

Natasha MacBryde, 15: The schoolgirl died after throwing herself in front of a train

Natasha MacBryde, 15: The schoolgirl died after throwing herself in front of a train

An internet tribute to a taunted public schoolgirl who died under a train has itself been hijacked by bullies.

Natasha MacBryde, 15, was killed on St Valentine’s Day following rumours that she had been teased about her parents’ divorce.

Friends set up a remembrance page to the ‘model pupil’ on Facebook so well-wishers could post messages.

But amidst the fond memories came sick postings including one which said: ‘Natasha wasn’t bullied, she was just a whore’, while another said: ‘I caught the train to heaven LOL (laugh out loud).’

Other users then clicked on ‘like’ to indicate that they agreed with the posts.

The vicious messages were on the site for 11 hours before being removed. Yesterday Natasha’s grieving father Andrew, 47, a chartered surveyor from Worcester, criticised Facebook for not monitoring the site more carefully.

He also revealed that a macabre video – entitled ‘Tasha The Tank Engine’ – had already been removed from YouTube after Natasha’s devastated brother James, 17, complained.

The video is understood to have featured a spoof version of Thomas the Tank Engine featuring a picture of Natasha on the front of a train.

Mr MacBryde said: ‘I am disgusted at these comments made by some seriously sick individuals. I simply cannot understand how or why these people get any enjoyment or satisfaction from making such disgraceful comments.

‘Facebook has a responsibility to allow people to express their grief properly while weeding out these sick people. I am trying to concentrate on the many, many beautiful and heartfelt comments which have been written.’

Natasha was a pupil at £10,000-a-year Royal Grammar School in Upper Tything, Worcester.

Following her parents’ divorce, she and her brother moved to a townhouse in Bromsgrove with their mother Catherine, 43, a cardiac physiotherapist, while their father remained at the family’s converted barn in the village of Upton Warren.

It is believed that Natasha was deeply depressed about the break-up, and matters were made worse by unkind comments from fellow pupils. She died instantly when she was hit by a train at Bromsgrove station, hours after sending her brother a text message saying: ‘I’ll miss you’.

Her death is not being treated as suspicious by police and her funeral is scheduled for March 4.

Natasha MacBryde note of condolence
Natasha MacBryde, messages of condolence

A friend said other kids teased Natasha at the Royal Grammar School in Upper Tything where many of the other pupils were snobby and would look down on her because her parents had separated

Grieving: Some of the more touching comments that were left on the Facebook page before it was taken down

Grieving: Some of the more touching comments that were left on the Facebook page before it was taken down

After her death, scores of friends posted messages on Facebook alleging that Natasha was being bullied, although her school said it was unaware of any problems.

A mother whose daughter was a classmate of Natasha said: ‘The split was hard on her and her brother, James. The other kids teased Natasha about it. Lots of the children at the school are wealthy and a few of the kids can be quite snobby.’

Following the hijacking of the Facebook tribute to Natasha, friends expressed their anger. One said: ‘It isn’t enough that Tasha is dead, these evil bullies can’t leave her in peace. What possible pleasure can these people get from making jokes like this?’

A police source said: ‘We are investigating several incidents of malicious messages being posted on the internet.The postings will be traceable.’ Facebook said: ‘We encourage people to report content that they find offensive or questionable.’

VICTIMS OF THE INTERNET 'TROLLS'

Posting inflammatory or provocative comments on internet sites to cause grief to families is known as ‘trolling’.

It began as an innocent way to draw out new or naive users of forums by posting ludicrous comments and seeing who would rise to the bait.

But in the last decade, it has become a deliberately nasty pursuit.  Trolls in the U.S. target Facebook and Myspace tribute pages, mostly of high school suicide victims. In one extreme case, trolls sent a grieving family pictures of their daughter’s corpse.

Those targeted often post a message saying: ‘Please do not feed the trolls’ – suggesting that users angered by the posts should ignore them. They say that responding to the comments encourages trolls to continue posting.