IT has emerged tonight that the teenage girl found dead in a field after an internet encounter is a former classmate of one of my children.
Ashleigh Hall, 17, is a former pupil of Hurworth School and it brings this terrible tragedy close to home.
My daughter tells me that Ashleigh was a lovely, quiet girl and there is disbelief in the local community at what has happened.
I have spoken to the school's head, Dean Judson, who has paid warm tribute and spoken of the school's sadness.
It brings into acute focus the danger lurking on the internet and, as a father of a 17-year-old girl myself, my heart goes out to Ashleigh's family.
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