Breck's Last Game

Breck Bednar was a 14-year-old boy from Surrey who was murdered in 2014 after being groomed online.

Like many boys of his age, Breck loved technology and spent lots of time gaming – often playing against other online ‘friends’ as part of a wider virtual group.

He played games such as Battlefield and Call of Duty.

Breck came into contact with his murderer, Lewis Daynes, over the internet as Daynes ran an online server through which Breck and his friends played games.

Daynes used this platform to groom him and over the course of 13 months forged an online “friendship,” gradually turning Breck against his family and friends by telling him a series of lies.

Daynes, who was 18 years old at the time, eventually managed to lure Breck to his flat on the premise of handing a fictional computer business.

On the 16 February 2014, Breck went to Daynes’ flat in Essex where he was murdered.

Daynes was sentenced in January 2015 to a minimum of 25 years in prison for Breck’s murder.

Trigger Warning - grooming, coercive behaviour + violence. This film would be rated 15 if shown in cinemas.

The film

Breck’s Last Game has been made to help raise awareness of the dangers of online grooming among boys.

The project is the result of an innovative collaboration between Northamptonshire Police, Leicestershire Police, Surrey Police and Essex Police, and the film has also been made with the active support of Breck’s mother Lorin LaFave, who set up the Breck Foundation shortly after her son’s tragic death.

Breck’s Last Game is designed to make young people think about who they are in contact online and asks the question - Do you know who your online friends really are?

The film highlights how a young person can be groomed and manipulated online and become distanced and isolated from friends and family. Its purpose is to protect children now and in the future and to stop another family losing a child in this way.

Facts about the film

Breck’s Last Game lasts just over four minutes. A 40-second trailer was made available to view in September 2018 ahead of the full film being launched in 2019.

The film was made by Affixxius Films in Loughborough and tells the events leading up to Breck’s death through the use of avatars. It features the real 999 call made to police by Daynes and Breck’s mother, Lorin, also appears as herself in the film.

The film and trailer both contain warnings. If either were to be screened at a cinema, they would carry a 15 certificate.

How will the film be rolled out?

The trailer was made available online from 19 September 2018 as part of an initial launch of the awareness campaign. The full film was made public on April 3, 2019.

This was to enable schools across Northamptonshire to show the film to schoolchildren first, as part of planned lessons. Schools have been provided with the film as part of a resource pack which includes suggested lesson plans, fact sheets and supporting material and information.

The lesson plans are designed to be delivered to secondary school pupils and the resource packs have been developed with the support of the Breck Foundation.

What can I do to help?

It is important children know how to be safe and smart online and take sensible precautions.

Make online safety an ongoing conversation. If you are a parent, carer, older sibling, or work with children, let them know they can come to you if something they don’t like happens online - whatever that is.

Talk regularly about how they use technology, and find out what their digital life is like, including what their favourite sites and services are and also how being online makes them feel.

Not sure where to begin? Have a look online for conversation starters for parents

There are lots of tools available to help manage devices used by children, such as parental controls which can help protect your child from seeing inappropriate content online. For advice and guidance on how to make use of safety features on devices, check out the parents guide to technology and see more advice in their advice centre for parents and carers

You can also find more information about how you can help a child stay safe online by using features such as privacy settings on social media and understanding how to make a report on a range of apps, games and services.