Social Media Monsters Season 1 Episode 1

Name: Social Media Monsters Season 1 Episode 1
Uploaded: 2025-10-06T23:54:29+00:00
Duration: 46 min 43 s
Channel: Reality Realm US
Description: Social Media Monsters Season 1 Episode 1<br /><br />#RealityRealmUS<br />Reality Realm US

Reality Realm US

1 day ago
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Social Media Monsters Season 1 Episode 1

#RealityRealmUS
Reality Realm US

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Short film

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00:00I could just see these two faint figures in the alleyway.

00:16Didn't get a reply at all.

00:23The lady on the other end of the phone said,

00:25I've got your daughter's phone.

00:27And I said, oh, where's she left it?

00:30And she said, no, no, she's been stabbed.

00:34He'd used all the techniques we'd taught main cadets

00:38to follow Holly round Hexham.

00:46He didn't just stab Holly once.

00:50He stabbed her 36 times.

00:52Have you been too hard with him?

00:54No.

00:57I knew straight away who'd done it because it wouldn't have been anyone else.

01:01Right, you're under arrest on suspicion of an assault.

01:05I would do anything for you.

01:08And you know I would.

01:09You know I would.

01:10You know I would.

01:11Definitely.

01:12But.

01:13I wouldn't ah tell them his wake up now's way up and you'll,

01:14it's not just him.

01:15You know in there he wouldn't be a situation.

01:17So I would just meet you everyone.

01:18And look.

01:19So I would expect you to know that you will never only be done.

01:21Okay, the option is that .

01:23But?

01:24Hey, guess what the good?

01:25You've been aware of it's still here.

01:26And you've been aware of it, you've lost or accomplished large preparements.

01:28If the challenge has been around,

01:29I still noticed it.

01:30And you're needing a place that won't be a bit scarce.

01:32I want to do the young version, I'm talking black, that's a black, that's a black.

01:47Holly was my first born, I had Holly when I was 18, so yeah she made me a mum and I felt

01:56like we kind of grew up together.

02:08Holly Newton lived in a busy family home in Northumberland with a brother, two sisters,

02:14her mum and stepdad.

02:17If she didn't have her phone in her hand, she was asleep.

02:22She was always on Facebook or uploading pictures on Instagram and TikTok.

02:29She always wanted to make TikToks with us at school and I'm not like big into dancing

02:35and making TikToks and stuff but she always like managed to get me to do it.

02:42Just any dance that she could find she would do.

02:51As well as dancing at school, Holly's weekends were full of dance competitions, sleepovers

02:56and cadet camps.

02:58Which is where she first met a boy called Logan MacPhail.

03:02They didn't go to the same school but I knew they were in touch via social media, yeah,

03:07the same as any of her other friends though.

03:11Whatsapp, Snapchat, erm, Facebook even.

03:16They were friends to start with and then actually like calling themselves a girlfriend and boyfriend

03:24and I thought, oh that's really nice.

03:27So at first it was very much Holly and Logan, everything was Holly and Logan.

03:41We kinda took them under our wing and we took them to centre parks, we took them canoeing,

03:45we took them paddle boarding, we did all sorts to be honest.

03:49They would make pancakes together, they would play games.

03:54And he spent a lot of time with Holly's brother as well, erm, you know, they would Xbox together,

04:00they would, you know, do a lot together as well.

04:08Logan communicated through voice notes because he couldn't read or write really well at all.

04:15It is a bit hard to understand them at first, but once you've been around them a while,

04:21you do learn to understand them.

04:24I would do anything for you, and you know I would.

04:30Logan spent most weekends at Holly's family home, although it was clear from the start

04:38that they were different personalities.

04:40She was just a happy-go-lucky kind of girl.

04:44Holly had lots of friends, Logan didn't have any friends.

04:47He was just very, like, introvert and kept to himself and stuff.

04:52And before we met him, she did say that he might be a bit quiet and not want to speak much.

05:04When Logan first joined Cadets, his sister made us aware that he had learning difficulties.

05:15But when I met him, I thought he's a nice lad, he was polite, he was nice and quiet.

05:23So she did at times become a little bit frustrated with him, but all she wanted to do was help him.

05:33After over a year of what Holly's mum and stepdad were thinking was a normal, happy teenage relationship,

05:39Holly started to hint that it was coming to an end.

05:45Holly started a new school and she wanted to spend time with different people.

05:52And she didn't feel like she could do that with Logan.

06:01Holly thought that by staying with Logan that she could change him and help him

06:06and maybe one day that he'd have friends.

06:10But I think eventually she started to realise that that wasn't going to happen.

06:14She felt like she had to focus on Logan rather than having a life of her own.

06:22Are you done with me or are you?

06:32How are you not done with me to be done with you?

06:36I'm not done with yet.

06:41Yeah, I want to stay with you and stuff but like, I'm not going to tell you as much stuff as I did.

06:48She didn't want to hurt Logan anymore because she knew that she was the only one that he actually had.

06:57But eventually it started being a bit strange.

07:00Me and Holly had planned that she was going to sleep at mine one night.

07:09He ended up having a tantrum and locking himself in the bathroom and bawling his eyes out.

07:14And he wouldn't let anyone in.

07:16And I was having to talk some sense into him, like begging him that he could always just meet up with Holly another time.

07:24But he just wasn't having any of it.

07:26We could see a change in our behaviour but again we didn't know what was going on.

07:47We couldn't decide whether it was school, the relationship or what it was.

07:54They were together, then they weren't together, then they were back together.

07:57And that was frustrating for us.

08:04This is what kids do.

08:06And we'd even said to Holly a couple of times, like, you need to make your mind up.

08:11You need to decide what you're going to do.

08:15With teenagers in general, if you tell them what to do, they'll ignore you.

08:26Eventually, in early January, Holly had decided she wanted to end things with Logan once and for all.

08:34But Logan didn't take it well.

08:45He just would non-stop message her.

08:47He didn't want to be left alone, begging, saying,

08:50I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, can we try again?

08:52And Holly just wanted him to leave her alone.

08:56If you couldn't get in touch with her, then it was constantly ringing her.

09:01You know, a lot.

09:03It wasn't just a couple of times.

09:05We're talking, you know, up to 50 times a day.

09:08He'd messaged me trying to get in touch with her.

09:16He'd beg me to speak to her and get me to try and talk some sense into her.

09:22That's what he said.

09:23Because he was obviously really upset.

09:27Because he was obviously really upset.

09:34One night sticks out for me.

09:37Me and Michaela were sitting in the living room watching a film and Holly came down upset.

09:42And we were sent to her, what's the matter?

09:46And she said, he's changed all our passwords on social media.

09:53I says, right, I'll sort this out.

09:55We knew he was being controlling.

10:10And his mother agreed that he'd become obsessed with Holly.

10:14It's extremely difficult for parents to get involved in the relationship that their children have.

10:26They don't always know what's happening.

10:28Quite often, the person who doesn't want it to end will take other measures.

10:34It's a very, very dangerous time.

10:38And she just felt really violated.

10:40Logan definitely did it because he wanted control.

10:42Because he knew at that point that all the control that he had was slipping away from him.

10:47Holly's friends had actually told Holly that they didn't think her relationship was normal.

10:53They felt it was toxic.

10:56Are we seeing what's quite normal and appropriate?

10:59Or is it the result of something more sinister like coercive behaviour?

11:03When we think about the digital world, it's very good at hiding some of these red flags.

11:12It's not until actually five days before she's murdered that she did say to us,

11:21erm, I'm really struggling to get out of this relationship.

11:26Erm, you know, you just can't leave me alone.

11:30I'm thinking nothing more.

11:31Ah!

11:32I'm thinking nothing more.

11:33I'm learning but in a way that's more not quite concerning than not quite.

11:36Who's more for a world to be alive?

11:37That's enough.

11:38I'm thinking nothing more than you're watching over the world.

11:39I'm thinking the only one is the only one is in this world.

11:41The only thing is, you know, this is the only one is in the world.

11:42The only thing is that the world is the only one is a world is in the world.

11:4315-year-old Holly Newton from Northumberland is in a relationship with Logan McPhail,

12:02a lad she met at cadets. He's her first boyfriend.

12:07They were like best friends, to be honest. They did everything together. They went out for food

12:11together and they were always out shopping at the Metro Centre. They were just, it was just, you know,

12:17typical teenage things that teenagers would do. But it wasn't until Holly took Logan into her social

12:24circle and I think that didn't work. And we just said like, it's not normal. He seems to be very

12:32controlling, very unusual around you. And he obviously wasn't happy that she was with her friends.

12:41Logan was never happy to be with somebody else. He wanted it just to be him and her.

12:52But after over a year of being together, Holly realised that Logan's obsession with her

12:58was getting out of control.

12:59To try and make a clean break, she blocked him from all her social media accounts.

13:12Towards the end of the relationship, she was very anxious. Her confidence definitely dropped.

13:18I knew that the only way that she was going to get a chance to get out of it was by blocking him

13:24and just stopping all contact completely.

13:27When Holly had cut off all communication with Logan, she was like a different child. She was so much happier.

13:36I want to do the old version. I'm talking back.

13:39What? What?

13:41That last week of Holly's life, she was so happy. And I feel now it was because she didn't,

13:48she didn't have anybody to answer to. We felt like we had Holly back to ourselves.

13:55She felt free. Her confidence went straight back up. And she was happy again. She was dancing.

14:04And she was speaking to another boy on Snapchat that she definitely got along with really well.

14:10And she was just happy again. Like, she knew she was free from it.

14:20But for Logan, being dumped and then being blocked provoked a different reaction.

14:27Intuitively, you block somebody who is being abusive in a relationship. But the irony is that you

14:32actually might create a larger danger. Because if that person can't contact you by social media,

14:39they may decide to target you physically. Turning up at your house, at your school,

14:46at your place of work. Logan would have felt disrespected. He would have felt personally

14:52affronted. The fact that he wanted the relationship to continue and Holly didn't, would have added fuel

14:58to that fire. Holly was everything to him. And this is why he became obsessed with her.

15:03He made a fake account on TikTok to try, message her as well, and just to see what was going on. And

15:14he just didn't give up. He did anything possible to get in touch through social media.

15:19He didn't even have one other friend. He had no friends. His family life wasn't great. He had Holly,

15:31and he knew he was losing her. But obviously, that's not Holly's fault.

15:40For Logan to see Holly, he would have to get one bus from Berdley into Newcastle.

15:49And then another across to Hexham.

15:54And onto Holtwistle, where Holly lived.

15:58A two-hour journey the family hoped would mean they'd seen the last of him. But it was not to be.

16:10I was with Holly at the dance academy where she was practicing. And Michaela had had a phone

16:20call from Logan's mum saying, have you seen him?

16:28I said, no, he's not here. Holly's at dance. And she said, when Holly comes home,

16:32can you just ask that, if she's heard from him? And I said, I will. I'll ask her as soon as she gets in.

16:45That evening, Logan was on a bus heading towards Holtwistle.

16:48But nobody knew exactly where he was, or what he was planning.

16:53On route, Logan eventually called his mum, spinning her a tale that he was actually round the corner from home.

17:05He was sending me voice notes, and I could hear that he was outside.

17:11And I said, are you at a parking gate said? And he wouldn't answer me. I said, are you at a parking Holtwistle?

17:17And he completely dodged that question. Like, he just would not answer me at all. I asked him multiple times.

17:24But Logan's lie had worked. Holly's family felt safe, thinking he wasn't nearby.

17:30So, for the rest of the night, it was just a normal night. Up to bed about half ten, eleven o'clock.

17:52And Michaela was woken up by a phone call.

17:56Logan's mum had discovered the truth.

18:01His obsession with Holly had left him stranded in the middle of the night, 40 miles away from home.

18:07Logan's mother was very, very upset.

18:12She'd said that Logan was in Holtwistle Park, and I needed to send Holly up to go and get him from the park.

18:17And, of course, I said, absolutely not. It's midnight. It's January.

18:24You know, I'm not going to send my 15-year-old daughter up to the park to get Logan.

18:29She said, well, if I can get him to come round to your house, can you take him in for the night?

18:38And I said, no, absolutely not. It's not my responsibility.

18:41I messaged Holly and I said, are you asleep? And she messaged back and she said, no, but I know that Logan's in Holtwistle.

18:55Despite blocking Logan from contacting Holly on socials, he was still in touch with her brother.

19:00He'd been messaging Holly's brother, asking him to open his window so he could climb in.

19:14Luckily, our sons had the sense to go, no, just get yourself away home.

19:26I started checking the cameras, obviously the door camera and everything,

19:29because it was not a very nice feeling thinking that somebody might be watching the house

19:35and not knowing how long somebody's been watching your house for.

19:44It was one o'clock in the morning. Police found him not very far from Holly's home.

19:49They picked him up and they took him back to his home.

19:52There's numerous red flags. The first is he bombarded Holly with messages and communications.

20:04There's a real sense of a constant desire to get in contact with her. And he wasn't able to take no

20:09for an answer when she didn't respond. He also hacked into her social media accounts.

20:14But also what's incredibly worrying is on a school night, he travelled 30 miles to gain access to her house.

20:27So all of this really highlights that he was not only persistent, but really intent,

20:32we can even say obsessional, in trying to make contact with Holly.

20:48And, erm, everyone went to school as normal.

20:57Logan wasn't mentioned that morning. I had it in the back of my mind.

21:01I knew Leigh was thinking about it, but I never...

21:04..you know, I never mentioned that...

21:07..to Holly.

21:09And, erm, everyone went to school as normal.

21:12Holly didn't speak of it much because I don't think she wanted people to know how scared

21:25she was. She felt like there was a possibility that she could be in danger. She didn't want

21:34to believe it though because she didn't want to believe that anyone could do something

21:38that bad. While Michaela was trying not to alarm Holly she made sure to stay in touch with

21:44her throughout the day. Oh what time are you going to be back tonight? I think I knew the

21:52right thing to do was to phone the police because she was obviously concerned about his behaviour,

21:59she knew that he was obsessed with her. But I knew she was safe in school. And again we

22:10didn't think for one second thought it would end up how it did because obviously I would

22:14never have let her go out of that house. If police are worried about the safety of a young

22:22person they will send round a family liaison officer and who will then liaise with the

22:27family and also other interested parties it could be school, health, anything to make sure

22:33that that person stays safe, that that young person is protected. Straight away they said

22:38they would they would come out at four o'clock that afternoon. There's some real opportunities

22:43for the police to intervene and have an impact on any future behaviour. So then I messaged her again

22:48and I said look you're gonna have to come straight home from school and the police are coming out

22:53at four o'clock. A bit later on Holly had messaged saying that one of our friends had had a message

22:59from Logan to say that he was gonna follow her around after school. Yeah Logan was messaging me

23:06saying that he's gonna come into Hexlam after school and he's gonna wait for us outside school.

23:12Also I told Holly straight away we were both a bit like he's not gonna come all the way here.

23:21Holly's mum immediately contacted the school who increased security on site. One of the teachers

23:33is gonna like walk us out of schools in case like he is there. But after school was a different problem

23:40and Holly didn't want to come straight home.

23:43She just really wanted to go out that day and she was begging me to go out with her because she

23:54said that she was going out to meet this boy after school. Holly wanted to try and see what it was like

24:00with other people see if it'd be the same as it was with Logan. Because I was telling her it's not the same

24:07at all. You don't have to have that caregiver role that you do with Logan.

24:12Holly was adamant that Logan ruined everything for her. She was supposed to be going out with two

24:18friends in Hexham and again she was being controlled by Logan. That's how Holly felt.

24:26And to be honest as a mother I did feel a little bit sorry for her. I thought she's so young and she's got

24:34herself in such a controlling relationship that she's just desperate for this little bit of freedom.

24:39The reason Michaela agreed to Holly's request was knowing that Logan was messaging everyone saying

24:44he was in Newcastle. A 90 minute bus journey away.

24:48So you know I said to Ross it's okay. So I changed the appointment. They were coming out at eight o'clock instead.

25:01Because at this point of the day he wouldn't have had time to get from Newcastle to Holtwistle for Holly finishing school.

25:08So we're sitting thinking yeah everything's going to be all right.

25:15All over his socials Logan McPhail is telling Holly's friends and family that he's 30

25:45miles away on a bus heading into Newcastle.

25:56But that's a lie. He's taken another bus to Hexham so he can confront Holly after school.

26:03Logan is saying that he's in Newcastle. He's sending messages to Holly's family. Very, very premeditated. It was very, very clear what was in his mind. He was going to stalk Holly.

26:24We were a bit more cautious that day and we were just looking everywhere we went to see if he was there.

26:34We didn't really have any set plans. We just knew that we were going to go around Hexham, maybe go to the shops.

26:44The boy that she was with was going to walk over at the train station so that she could go back home.

26:49And we had no clue this whole time that Logan was actually following us.

26:56While Logan is using social media to send false posts about his whereabouts, he's using the same apps to track Holly's location.

27:10When she blocked him on everything, he was very clever in thinking, OK, I can't see Holly's location anymore, but I know exactly who she'll be with and I can see theirs.

27:24So what I'll do is I'll follow theirs instead. And then, you know, it's very, very likely that Holly is also going to be there.

27:31Using a phone to follow people and sort of trying to avoid detection, I think that's danger written all over it.

27:44We walked through Hexham and we walked down this hill that leads down next to the Wentworth Cafe.

27:51And then we went and sat in the Wentworth Leisure Centre for a bit.

28:01We followed them for, without any of them known, for 45 minutes around Hexham Town Centre.

28:16There's an element in cadets called fieldcraft where it's hiding yourself from the enemy in the field.

28:24So you're taught how to follow the enemy, essentially.

28:31Army cadets is where Holly first met Logan.

28:35The skills they learned together as friends became a technique he was now using against her.

28:42Staying around 30 seconds behind her.

28:50We thought Logan was still in Newcastle at this point.

28:54And we just didn't have any suspicions that he was actually right behind us the whole time.

28:59They then headed over to Tesco.

29:03He's hiding in trolley bars.

29:05He's hiding behind cars.

29:13He's keeping himself to the side so Holly wouldn't see him if she happened to turn around and look back.

29:19He told his mum he was in Newcastle.

29:28He told his friends he was in Newcastle.

29:30He was trying to create a false alibi.

29:33As if he knew that he was going to do something very bad.

29:37He waits for them to come back out of Tesco and then he follows them back up to Hexham, where Holly then leaves one of our friends with our sister.

29:51When I left on that day, I just thought that this is going to be good for her.

29:56She seemed really happy.

29:58They're going to go get us some food and then she's going to go home.

30:00That was what the plan was anyway.

30:03And then she continues with the male friend to the pizza shop.

30:10He's hid it in the doorway of her old shop further up the road.

30:14And he's waited until Holly's friend's gone in the pizza shop while she was stood outside at the bus stop to approach her.

30:24So you can see her, she's very frustrated.

30:26She just wants to leave him alone.

30:29But, you know, he's adamant he just needs to speak to her alone.

30:37She's not happy about the situation at all.

30:40Logan's trying to persuade her to go down the alleyway next to the pizza shop.

30:54The last phone call I got from Holly was when she was standing outside the pizza shop and she'd rang me to double check what time she needed to be home.

31:04And that was the last conversation I had with her.

31:05Logan's then got her into the alleyway where the attack happened.

31:16After I left them, I got picked up by my mum and then we went past Pizza Pizza.

31:23And I could just see these two faint figures of what looked like Holly and someone else in the alleyway.

31:31I started messaging him straight away, being like, Holly, was that Logan?

31:35What's he doing there? Are you all right? Are you all right?

31:42Didn't get a reply at all.

31:46In the alley, Logan stabbed Holly with a three-inch kitchen knife he'd brought with him.

31:51He didn't just stab Holly once. That would have been bad enough. He stabbed her 36 times.

32:07He had every intention of brutally murdering Holly.

32:13Holly was stabbed in the back of her head.

32:16Her neck and chest.

32:24The intensity of the attack meant the knife broke in two.

32:30Yeah, so the members of the public would have seen the attack.

32:32They sort of rushed in, no thought to their own safety.

32:36One of Holly's friends was stabbed, trying to save her.

32:39The passers-by detained Logan and the ambulance arrived about ten minutes later to tend to Holly.

32:52We'd gone to drop one of Holly's siblings off at my mum's house when I received a phone call.

33:00The lady on the other end of the phone said, I've got your daughter's phone.

33:03And I said, oh, where's she left it? I said, she'll be lost without it. I'll come and get it.

33:09And she said, no, no, she's been stabbed.

33:12I just put my foot to the floor and got there as quick as I can.

33:17As we pulled up, I just put the brake on and jumped out.

33:21And as I went down the alleyway, I seen the crews working on Holly.

33:25Lee jumped out straight away and I sat there for a minute.

33:33I didn't really know what to do.

33:35The only other thing I remember is Lee coming, running out of the alley and he said,

33:38whatever happens, you don't go down there.

33:39And I didn't.

33:41When I seen Holly, it was sheer disbelief.

33:45And dread.

33:47Coming out the alleyway, it was just something I knew if Michaela seen it,

34:03she wouldn't be able to cope.

34:06Because once it goes in your eyes, it never comes out.

34:17Olly is fighting for her life.

34:24The friend she was having pizza with also got injured trying to help her.

34:34Have you got anything in your pockets?

34:36My phone.

34:42What's your name?

34:43Logan McPhil.

34:45Logan?

34:45Logan Shane McPhil.

34:47Who's the last?

34:52Do you know my name?

34:54Holly McPhil.

34:55Who?

34:55Holly McPhil.

34:56Newton.

34:58Where's your from?

34:59Holly.

35:02When Logan was arrested, he started to say that Holly had been mean to him.

35:07You've been too hard for doing.

35:09I don't know if I was a man who killed himself.

35:13I remember himself.

35:14The knife that Logan had carried, he said had been meant to be used on him, not on Holly.

35:23But his mind went blank and he went too far.

35:28I knew straight away who'd done it, because it wouldn't have been anyone else.

35:34I then rang Logan's mother and I just remember screaming down the phone to her, what you'd done?

35:40And I don't really remember what she said to me at all, to be honest.

35:47The next thing I remember is Lee banging on the back of the police van, and I'd said to Lee, that's Logan in there, and Lee had said, I'll kill him.

36:0315-year-old Holly Newton had been stalked on social media by her monster of an ex-boyfriend, Logan McPhail.

36:31He lured her into an alley, stabbed her and the friend she'd been having pizza with.

36:38I was sitting on my bed, still messaging Holly and the boy that she was with, saying, is everything alright, what's happened?

36:54And it must have been about 10 minutes, maybe 20 after that, that I got a message off the boat that shows her, saying, I can't talk, we've been stabbed.

37:06Both were rushed to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, but Holly Newton died before her mum and stepdad were able to see her.

37:19When your child dies, of course you want to touch them, you want to hold their hand, you want to kiss them, you want to cuddle them, but I was basically told that I would be arrested if I touched her,

37:30because at that point, you've lost your daughter, she's not Holly anymore, she's evidence, she's police evidence.

37:37And it must have been about 1 or 2 in the morning.

37:41I remember mum saying, I'm sorry, but she didn't make it.

37:46And that's kind of, like, what's played through my head quite a bit.

37:54I literally just broke down into her arms.

37:58Holly's friend survived the attack.

38:01Her ex-boyfriend, 16-year-old Logan McPhail, was arrested at the scene.

38:06All right, you're under arrest on suspicion of an assault.

38:12You do not have to say anything with me, help me defend.

38:14You do not mention my question, something that you later rely on in court.

38:18Body cam footage shows that just minutes after inflicting the stab wounds, McPhail appears calm.

38:27The moment someone's arrested can be incredibly telling.

38:30It gives us an insight into their mindset, an insight into their emotional connection.

38:36But also an insight into the relationship of what they've done or may not have done.

38:40Last night was I meant to kill myself.

38:44I meant to kill myself.

38:45It's always too far.

38:46You've still done this.

38:48I mean, Logan's explanation that the knife was there for himself.

38:53If you've got a knife, if you're setting yourself with alibis about being in Newcastle,

38:59opposed to being in the scene, and I think people would have seen through that.

39:06McPhail's lawyers wouldn't be able to deny that he had committed a crime in that alleyway.

39:12But what category of crime it was could be contested, along with whether he was fit and able to stand trial.

39:20Murder carries a greater sentence and can be life imprisonment.

39:24But for murder, you have to prove intent.

39:27You have to prove that he premeditated it, and he intended to kill Holly.

39:32We know that as a minor, Logan was the subject of a child protection plan, which means he was deemed at risk.

39:39He had been assessed as being on the autistic spectrum.

39:42He had a lower IQ.

39:43He had a few special measures that had to be put into place for Logan.

39:46And it's really hard to sit there and, you know, watch people pander around him when he's literally murdered a child.

39:56There's a legal system, there's legal procedures, which are there quite rightly to protect people, even though a life has been lost.

40:03While the lawyers were arguing over the technicalities of the law, Michaela and Lee were burying their daughter.

40:12They tried to say Logan wasn't competent enough to stand trial.

40:19It was frustrating.

40:22We had to wait for a year and a half, nearly, for him to be found that he was fit enough to stand trial.

40:33We felt like we couldn't grieve for Holly until we'd got some sort of justice for us.

40:37So it was a long time not to grieve properly for our child.

40:51On the eve of the trial, Michaela and Lee were called in by police to go through all the evidence that had been accumulated,

40:58so that they knew what to expect.

41:00That day was probably the second hardest day of our lives, watching Holly on CCTV.

41:10And some of the stuff he was sitting in was soul destroying.

41:16I think his plan was to, if I can paint Holly in such an awful picture, then people will feel sorry for me.

41:23I'm also going to use the excuse that I blacked out.

41:26I'm going to use my mental health as well.

41:28And then hopefully I'll either get totally off with it, or I'll get a very, very low sentence.

41:35By 25th of August, all the evidence had been heard, and the jury began their deliberation.

41:47In my head, it was a clear conviction, but you always have that doubt there as well.

41:59So those four days of sitting, waiting for them to come back, you're constantly running through everything in your head and praying to get the right decision.

42:13Juries are influenced by barristers, influenced by people who will say that this person had challenges around their wellbeing, about their mental health.

42:24So all of those factors do influence juries.

42:31It was such a relief when the jury came back and said that he was guilty.

42:37The judge decided when he was sentencing that Logan's learning disabilities and his autism were not severe enough to actually influence the sentencing.

42:49However, the judge couldn't be certain that Logan had premeditated taking the knife and actually taking Holly's life on that day.

42:59Despite Logan having a knife and travelling there and giving himself alibis, he wasn't satisfied that that was sufficient for premeditation as part of the murder.

43:10Rather than giving a full life term, the judge sentenced Logan to a minimum of 17 years in prison.

43:17I don't personally think that that was long enough.

43:22But I think, you know, he could have given a minimum term of 60 years and for me that wouldn't have been long enough.

43:27He could be out when he's in his early thirties.

43:30He can start a family.

43:32He can basically get on with his life.

43:34All the things that Holly now hasn't got the opportunity to do.

43:36I would do anything for you.

43:40And you know I would.

43:42One of the tragedies of Holly's life being cut so short was that but for a loophole in the law, police might have been able to prevent the attack.

43:51If Holly and Logan had both been over 16, when Logan was found in the park near Holly's house at one o'clock in the morning, this would have been categorized as domestic violence.

44:04He could have been arrested.

44:06She could have been offered a different type of support.

44:08That was all missed because she was 15.

44:19The mechanism that Logan was dealt with would have been completely different.

44:27I'm not going to tell you as much stuff as I did.

44:29Holly might still be here if she'd known much earlier the signs of domestic abuse and she could have got out of that relationship much earlier and safely.

44:44We're just endlessly campaigning for that law to change and for Holly's law to come into place to protect under 16s in relationships.

44:59I encourage your kids to talk to you about anything, whether it's good or bad.

45:18Always encourage your kids to talk to you and listen to them without judging or anything.

45:24and just do your best to help them as you will.

45:33I remember seeing to Lee and thinking to myself as well,

45:38the kids have lost their sister, I'm not going to let them lose their mum as well.

45:42As a mother you do that.

45:43I just remember Holly is always smiling.

45:49Like always, always smiling.

45:52Dancing, singing.

45:58She was such a bubbly person and I just thought like that's someone I want to be friends with.

46:03I'm not going to be friends with.