'Suicide' shocks web community

The alarm was raised by an internet user who contacted West Midlands Police as Mr Whitrick started harming himself in front of his webcam late on Wednesday night.

Officers contacted police in Telford who broke into Mr Whitrick's flat in Orleton Court, Wellington and tried unsuccessfully to revive him.

There was an immediate flurry of activity on website chatrooms where users were commenting on Mr Whitrick's death and seeking information about it.

One chatroom called Kels Frienddly Chat on www.paltalk.com had a fast-flowing discussion about the issue today under the subject heading RIP Kevin.

An e-mail to the Shropshire Star suggested this was the website on which Mr Whitrick had appeared on Wednesday night.

Some of the anonymous users were clearly journalists seeking information by pretending to be ordinary members of the chatroom.

But their cover was quickly blown and users warned each other about them.

There were several comments critical of journalists and someone called Captain Frank declared: "This room is full of reporters."

But other chatroom users were apparently keen to try to make some money from national newspapers through chequebook journalism.

Among the comments today was a posting by papermanuk who said: "I'm on the phone to the News of the World. I'm going to make a buck on this."

Other users expressed a desire to help police with their investigation into Mr Whitrick's death.

One user - fireangel205 - even issued an appeal for anyone with information to contact police on 08457 444888 - the usual number used by police in Telford and the rest of Shropshire.

The Shropshire Star was also mentioned, with users pointing out that the newspaper had named the dead man. And one user, "Phil Mcrevice", told the chatroom: "This is serious guys."

Police are yet to establish whether Mr Whitrick meant to kill himself.

International authorities are increasingly worried about the trend for internet suicide. There is a growing number of websites and chatrooms with names such as "Suicide Club" where people plan their deaths.

By Peter Johnson