Murder of Breck Bednar
Grays, Essex, England · United Kingdom · 2014
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Content note
- A victim named in this case was a minor at the time.
In 2014, fourteen-year-old Breck Bednar of Caterham, Surrey, was groomed online through gaming by Lewis Daynes, then eighteen, of Grays, Essex. After months of manipulation and false promises, Daynes lured Breck to his flat, where he murdered him on 17 February 2014. Daynes pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court and on 12 January 2015 received a life sentence with a twenty-five-year minimum term. The case also exposed failings in how Surrey Police handled a prior grooming report from Breck’s mother, leading to an IPCC investigation, a later force apology and settlement, and lasting online-safety education through the Breck Foundation.
Timeline· 11 entries
A dated record of reported developments and proceedings.
The source labels — court document, agency release, news report — say where an entry's source sits, not how reliable it is. What each label means
17 Dec 2013 · Tuesday
1 Jan 2014 · Wednesday
Update, investigation event
Date estimatedJanuary 2014 — preparatory purchases (duct tape etc.)
News reportThe Guardian
16 Feb 2014 · Sunday
17 Feb 2014 · Monday
19 Feb 2014 · Wednesday
Charges filed, court event
PrintNewspapers.com
25 Nov 2014 · Tuesday
Plea, court event
PrintNewspapers.com
26 Nov 2014 · Wednesday
Update, investigation event
Date estimatedParents notify civil claim vs Essex & Surrey Police
England and WalesNews reportBBC News
12 Jan 2015 · Monday
Update, investigation event
PrintNewspapers.com
23 Nov 2015 · Monday
26 Nov 2015 · Thursday
13 Mar 2016 · Sunday
Coverage· 13 entries
Podcasts, documentaries, books, magazines, and reporting about this case.
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3 Apr 2019
DocumentaryAffixxius Films; Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Essex & Surrey Police (with Breck Foundation / Lorin LaFave)3 Apr 2019Police CSE-awareness short dramatising Bednar’s online grooming and murder for education; this is context for prevention, not a criminal-arc timeline event.
26 Jan 2016
DocumentaryBBC Three26 Jan 2016BBC Three docudrama on Bednar’s murder and online grooming, including family and investigators; the programme is not currently on iPlayer, so this stable catalogue link is the reference.More
16 Mar 2020
Podcast episodeMorbidology16 Mar 202019 Jan 2015
ArticleHerald19 Jan 201513 Jan 2015
ArticleThe Independent13 Jan 201513 Jan 2015
ArticleThe Guardian13 Jan 201512 Jan 2015
ArticleEvening Standard12 Jan 201526 Nov 2014
ArticleThe Guardian26 Nov 201419 Feb 2014
ArticleEvening Standard19 Feb 2014- Podcast episodeInfraction
- Podcast episodeThey Walk Among Us
- Podcast episodeBlue Murder Club
- Website / resourceBreck Foundation
The official website of the Breck Foundation details the family's educational advocacy for online safety, established in memory of fourteen-year-old Breck Bednar.
This is not an index of everything published about a case. Listing is not an endorsement of the work or its creator, and leaving something out is not a negative judgement of it either. See the selection criteria.
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