Dylan Phelan laughed when 21-year-old Travis Dyer finally pulled the trigger. On a group video call on October 30, 2024, the 24-year-old from Morley, West Yorkshire, had repeatedly urged the vulnerable Louisiana resident to end his life with a shotgun – and now he has been jailed for six years and four months.
Phelan pleaded guilty to encouraging suicide, making an indecent image and possessing extreme pornography. Sentencing at Leeds Crown Court, Mr Justice Cotter said Phelan was motivated by "morbid curiosity" and told him: "You wanted to feel like you had control over the actions of another. You showed no respect for the life of Travis Dyer."
“Dylan Phelan jailed for six years and four months for encouraging Travis Dyer to take his own life on a video call.”
The fatal video call, witnessed by two other online group members in the US, was the culmination of a months-long campaign of abuse. A police investigation found Travis had been subjected to "sustained, serious encouragement to self-harm" by members of the online Discord group. Phelan admitted in a police interview that he had become "drawn to the darker groups" on the platform and accepted his words were a direct factor in Travis's death.
Travis, remembered by those who knew him as "sweet, gentle, quiet, kind, and very caring," had struggled after losing both his mother and sister to drowning. He had joined a Discord messaging board where people spoke about their mental health – though it was not categorised as a support group. In the lead-up to his suicide, the court heard, Travis carved Phelan's name into his body.
Crime writer and social worker Roshan Pitteea, who has focused on safeguarding, remarked: "From what's been reported, there appears to have been a deeply disturbing fascination from those tormenting Travis online – almost a cruel curiosity about whether he would actually ha…"