A mother who fears her teenage son may have died following an online challenge gone wrong has welcomed a High Court decision to order a new inquest into his death.
Ellen Roome, whose 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died in April 2022, said she hopes it will be a "turning point" in making the "online world safer for every child".
A 23-minute inquest into his death in September that year recorded a narrative conclusion after hearing no live evidence, but on Thursday, two senior judges quashed the original conclusion and ordered that the inquest be reopened.
Speaking after Thursday's hearing in London, Ms Roome said every bereaved family "deserves to know that every possible avenue, including a child's digital life, has been properly investigated.
"We hope this is a turning point, not only in finding the truth about Jools, but in making the online world safer for every child."
Social media companies "must do everything in their power to stop children dying in the first place," she said, adding that "no parent should ever have to bury their child because dangerous content was allowed to reach them".
Ms Roome, who took legal action against the senior coroner for Gloucestershire said the ruling means a coroner can now examine Jools' digital life using legal powers that did not exist when he died.
The legal system "has finally recognised that there are questions which deserve to be answered," she said.
New evidence has come to light over the role of social media in Jools' death, Ms Roome's lawyers told the hearing, while a "number of lines of inquiry" had not been pursued.
In written submissions, Harry Lambert representing Ms Roome, said some of these concerned "the role of social media, and of TikTok specifically".
Other lines of inquiry did not concern TikTok, including that Jools, from Gloucestershire, had been contacted by a fraudulent Instagram account operated by an African crime gang shortly before his death, and that evidence from his phone found a "possible attempt at extortion or 'sextortion'".
Mr Lambert said that Ms Roome "seeks only the truth about how her son died, wherever the evidence may lead".
#Lord Justice Warby, sitting with Mrs Justice Heather Williams, said a new inquest was "desirable in the interests of justice", as it was "now clear that there are various potential lines of inquiry" that had not previously been considered.
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The judge also it was "simply not possible to know at this stage whether the same conclusion will be reached after appropriate investigations", and that it would be for the coroner conducting the new inquest to decide its scope.
The coroner and TikTok did not oppose the bid to reopen the inquest.
Ms Roome, who attended the hearing, wept as the judges handed down their ruling.
(c) Sky News 2026: Teen's mother calls for greater online child safety as High Court orders new inquest into
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