Murdered girl's mum praises TV drama Adolescence

The mother of murdered schoolgirl Ava White praised the makers of hit Netflix drama Adolescence for turning the spotlight on "bad influencers".

Ava was 12 when she was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old boy in Liverpool City Centre on 25 November 2021 after a row over a Snapchat video.

The boy, who cannot be named due to a court order, was later jailed for life for Ava's murder with a minimum term of 13 years in detention.

Ava's mother Leeann White also hit back at some members of the media for suggesting the storyline had anything to do with her daughter's case.

"It's got nothing to do with Ava whatsoever," she told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"It makes me really angry as well that Ava's name keeps on getting put alongside - it's about the perpetrator, it's not about Ava."

Ms White said she had checked interviews and public comments from the show's writer, Jack Thorne, and co-writer and star Stephen Graham, and there had been no mention of Ava.

She said she had watched the four part drama, which tells the story of a 13-year-old boy arrested for stabbing a classmate to death after a row over social media.

"It was really difficult if I'm being honest, but again I had to put myself through that because Ava's name was heavily mentioned alongside it.

"It was really hard, I'm not going to lie. It's still playing on my mind until today."

However Ms White said the programme, which has received widespread critical acclaim, highlighted some vital issues.

"By them highlighting all the dangers on social media and all the bad influencers like Andrew Tate... I think that's a really good thing for them to be highlighting," she said.

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