[heading_block]A film about aspects of last two weeks of Kayleigh Haywood. It is to be screened next week to people aged 18 and over who live in the communities in Ibstock, Measham and Coalville.[/heading_block]
Adults living in the villages are invited to watch the film about Kayleigh Haywood, which has been produced by Leicestershire Police to highlight the dangers of online grooming to both parents and children.
In November last year, 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood was groomed online by 28-year-old Luke Harlow – a man she had never met. Over the course of 13 days, he sent Kayleigh Haywood more than 100 messages a day before she finally agreed to spend the night at his house in Ibstock.
The tragic and horrific circumstances that followed saw the schoolgirl being held against her will by Harlow and his neighbour Stephen Beadman, before being raped and murdered by 29-year-old Beadman.
With the backing of Kayleigh’s parents, the force has made a film to raise awareness of online grooming.
Whilst the trailer of the film was released yesterday (Thursday 30 June), these will be the first public screenings of the full film – Kayleigh’s Love Story. These week-long screenings, which are strictly for people aged 18 and over, will be held on the hour at the following locations:
Monday 4 July St Laurence Church Hall, Measham, between 11am and 4pm Measham Youth Centre, between 6pm and 8pm
Tuesday 5 July Ibstock Community College, between 4pm and 7pm
Wednesday 6 July Council Chambers, North West Leicestershire District Council, from 10am-12 noon and 2pm-7pm
Thursday 7 July St Laurence Church Hall, Measham, from 10am until 4pm
From September onwards, the film, which lasts just over five minutes and was shot on location in Leicestershire in February, will be shown by a team of specialist officers to all school children aged 11 upwards in the force area.
It will then be made publicly available from January next year and posted on Leicestershire Police’s Facebook site.
Given the huge volume of interest in the trailer, the force is trying to avoid too many people trying to attend the very first screenings on Monday morning, as St Lawrence’s Church Hall only seats 80 people at a single time.
Deputy Chief Constable Roger Bannister said: “I’m keen that as many people as possible see the full film next week, but we can only take 80 people at each screening, so it would help us if residents plan to attend at different times of the day and throughout the week. An enormous amount of work and careful consideration has been undertaken to produce what I believe is a hard-hitting and highly impactive film which delivers a very stark warning to children and parents about the dangers of online grooming. Significant discussions have been held with both local and national partners during the making of it, and their feedback has helped us to refine the film and the messages it seeks to convey. Building on the CEASE campaign and the Spot the Signs multi-agency initiative, I very much hope and believe that this film will help us to safeguard children throughout the fore area – if not nationally.
The trailer of the film is available to view, but carries a warning that, if it were to be screened at a cinema, it would carry a 15 certificate.
Leicestershire Police has also launched a campaign asking people to make a commitment to fight child sexual exploitation. CEASE – Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation – is a major, multi-agency initiative in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, and asks people to make a very public commitment that such abuse and exploitation of children will not be tolerated. We want members of the public to help ‘spot the signs’ to prevent young people coming to harm.
Residents attending the screenings will be asked to sign the pledge.
You can sign the pledge online here, or by texting the word CEASE to 87007.
