Archie Battersbee was bullied and sent WhatsApp messages telling him to kill ... trends now
The mother of Archie Battersbee has revealed the 12-year-old was a victim of online bullying in the months before his death.
His grieving family say they discovered sickening WhatsApp messages, both text and voice notes, sent to the schoolboy including ones where he was encouraged to kill himself.
Hollie Dance, 47, also said they have been targeted by vile trolls who have sent them tens of thousands of abusive messages since the news of Archie's incident broke last April.
The relentless trolling has taken such a toll that two family members have attempted suicide, she said.
The youngster was discovered lying unconscious in his bedroom at his home in Southend, Essex, with a ligature over his head.
12-year-old Archie Battersbee was at the centre of a life-support treatment fight during the summer until his mechanical intervention was finally turned off on August 6
Hollie Dance, 47, pictured with her son Archie, 12, who never regained consciousness after he was found with a ligature around his neck at home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on April 7
He was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness and was believed to be brain-stem dead by doctors who said his life-support treatment should come to an end.
Archie's family appealed to a judge for 'more time' to see if he would 'fight back' but after an unsuccessful legal battle his life support was switched off in August last year.
His mother believed her son, a keen gymnast who had suffered 'catastrophic' brain damage, may have been taking part in an online challenge.
Now his parents have learned Archie was receiving relentless abuse through threatening WhatsApp messages prior to his death.
The messages have been disclosed ahead of an inquest into the little boy's death, which is set to begin next week.
Ms Dance told the Guardian: 'I couldn't read too much because I was just crying a lot, I wasn't in a good way.
Archie's mother, Hollie Dance, pictured at her son's funeral at St Mary's Church in Prittlewell
Archie Battersbee (pictured left and right, in hospital), 12, was found unresponsive at home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, with a ligature around his neck on April 7
'They were threatening to come to his house, knives were mentioned.
Ms Dance said the messages were a 'shock', especially as the family have been a target for trolls since April, with nearly 20,000 screenshots of abuse that are now being assessed by lawyers and police.
She said that two family members had attempted suicide because of the trolling they had received.
She added: 'So to think that my little boy had been trolled prior to this and we had no idea whatsoever is absolutely heartbreaking.'
Sources close to Archie's family told the Guardian that the WhatsApp messages, both text and voice notes, went on for months and even encouraged the schoolboy to take his own life.
In one sickening message, Ms Dance was sent a picture of her son in his hospital bed superimposed on to an
