Instagram suicide teen Molly Russell’s dad hasn’t been allowed access to her iPhone

THE DAD of tragic teen Molly Russell has not been allowed to access her iphone and social media accounts - despite his fears they may contain answers about her suicide.

Heartbroken Ian Russell suspects the 14-year-old was viewing distressing content on self-harming and suicide before she took her own life in 2017.

But tech giant Apple claims it’s unable to unlock her phone, while social media companies won’t release Molly’s data until there’s been a formal legal request from the coroner.

The coroner is now writing to Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Apple demanding they hand over everything they know about what Molly viewed and wrote online.

Ian said: “There’s data on her electronic devices that we can’t access. I won’t do any good in Molly’s case, but of course we might learn lessons that might help other people.

“If you were to look in Molly’s phone, there may be key evidence.

“The only thing that provided that last final straw must have come through her phone or her iPod Touch.
“We need to find out what it was that drove her to make that final decision, that encouraged her to take her life at the end.”

But legally, Molly’s data now belongs to the tech companies - not her family.

Ian said: “It seems to me that the data on Molly’s phone should have become her parents’ property.

“She died without a will - she was 14 - and everything else quite naturally returns to us as her parents. And so should her data.”