A stalker taunted the teenage sister of a murdered boy by sending her "depraved and grossly violent" messages and images about her brother’s death.

Dwaine Boakye was said to "relish power and control" in his sickening month-long campaign against Deal schoolgirl Chloe Bednar, whose brother Breck was killed by Lewis Daynes in 2014 after being groomed through online gaming.

In what Canterbury Crown Court heard was a "particularly disturbing" turn of events in early 2019, Boakye contacted Chloe, then 17, by adopting various social media personas, including Snapchat accounts set up in both her brother's name and that of his murderer.

Five years earlier Breck had been lured by Daynes to his flat and was murdered in a cruel act said to have been “driven by sadistic or sexual motivation”.

Boakye did not know Chloe or have any known association with Breck's murder or anyone involved in the case.

But prosecutor Martin Yale told the court he carried out extensive research on the gruesome case as well as the family in his persistent efforts to maximise fear or distress.

Legal issues with US-based Snapchat co-operating with Kent Police meant it took months for Boakye to be identified as the stalker.

Some of his messages indicated "detailed knowledge" of the investigation and included information that had not been reported or was not known by Chloe, he added.

Freelance hairdresser Boakye, then aged 19, first made contact with the teenager in January 2019, sending her a picture of herself with her brother that had been taken a few years before his death.

Boakye captioned the picture "I'll be home soon". Another photo of Breck was accompanied by the words "Let's see his body then".

Chloe also received a Google image of a skeleton with "RIP Breck" written across it.

Dozens more messages followed, with graphic, sexual references to the murder itself.

One read: "Shame Breck is dead. He was sexy. If he was still alive I'd be all over him."

Threats were also made against the Bednar family and to desecrate the young boy's grave.

The court heard that when Chloe responded by asking who was contacting her, Boakye then sent a series of messages in which he referred to breaking the convicted murderer out of prison and claiming the killing had been carried out in self-defence.

"Chloe was understandably extremely distressed, scared and confused," Mr Yale told the court.

"She described herself as struggling to breathe and being horrified. She felt as if she was being watched and felt unsafe."

The family, who following Breck's death set up a foundation in his name to improve online safety for children and young people, reported the sinister messages to police.

However, Boakye continued to contact Chloe while hiding behind an account he set up in her brother's name and using an avatar "clearly intended to look like him", added the prosecutor.

He then callously taunted her with messages as if written by her brother saying "I miss you", "Hi, we have a lot to talk about", and "I'll be back soon".

Others were written as if by Daynes himself, explained Mr Yale, apologising that Breck was dead before purportedly describing his last moments alive.

It read: "I wanted him, he didn't want me. I don't take rejection well. I got angry."

The message then turned threatening, saying: "When I get out in 21 years, I'll come see you. Right now, I have my family to do it for me."

It was signed off with "Your friend, Lewis Daynes."

Boakye was finally arrested in July 2019 after police linked the activity to a Sky Broadband account held by his mother, with whom he lived in Goodwin Gardens, Croydon.

"On his laptop, which had been sent for repair but was recovered by police, were saved news articles reporting the murder, as well as saved images of Breck and the family," Mr Yale told the court.

"The defendant had also undertaken research into the family, including social media accounts and media coverage.

"He had also saved a video made by Lorin LaFave (Breck and Chloe's mother) promoting online safety.

"He also researched how to delete Snapchat account data, Kent Police, and the 'lure' definition - a word used to describe the murder of Breck, searched 'Breck Bednar rape', and also searched for pornographic material."

Boakye had also tried online to find where the boy was buried, and even named an area in a video game 'Breck Bednar's place'.

Boakye, who is now 25, later pleaded guilty to stalking and two offences of sending a malicious communication.

"The conduct was intended to maximise fear or distress. It's difficult to imagine a worse example of this - a grown man tormenting a teenage girl about the murder of her brother while also researching her, her family, and sending pictures to her," said Mr Yale.

"The content of the messages was graphic and clearly intended to shock and upset.

"There was extensive planning and research, and it is clear from the computer data that he knew what he was doing was wrong, researching methods to cover up his tracks and using different social media persona.

"It was over a long and sustained period, contacting Chloe on numerous occasions. Very significant distress and serious psychological harm was caused.

"She made considerable changes to her lifestyle, had counselling and therapy. It retraumatised her."

Boakye's targeting of Chloe was also committed just three months after he had been convicted of harassment of a 14-year-old boy, again via Snapchat, while posing as a 21-year-old woman.

That offence, among other convictions for similar behaviour dating back to 2017, involved him sending gun and knife emojis to the victim and threatening to kill his uncle.

No members of the Bednar family were in court for the sentencing hearing but statements made by Chloe, her mother, and her father, Barry Bednar, highlighted the impact Boakye's warped behaviour had had on their lives.

Chloe, who was an A-level student at the time, wrote: "I cannot articulate how horrible it was to be sent those messages.

"I have had to make changes to my lifestyle and the way I conduct myself because people are unable to control themselves and behave with a basic level of decency."

Ms LaFave said that in an effort to protect her daughter, she had "not been privy to the grim detail" of what had happened to her brother.

"The comments about rape were something she would never have been aware of," she added.

The family also feared Chloe was being watched after she was sent a picture of her in her school uniform outside her home.

Her dad described being "unbelievably angered and shaken" by the messages.

"When these things happen it's like ripping off a scab," he added.

Gemma Noble, defending, said Boakye was remorseful for his actions and had contacted Chloe out of "curiosity and wanting to know more".

"He accepts he had no reason, no basis to contact her," the barrister told the court.

I have had to make changes to my lifestyle and the way I conduct myself because people are unable to control themselves and behave with a basic level of decency...

"He hasn't explained more than that but he has reiterated to me today that it was completely inappropriate."

However, her assertion that he recognised the seriousness of his offending was rejected by Judge Simon Taylor KC when he highlighted how Boakye had made "numerous comparisons" between himself and his victim in his pre-sentence report.

He had even asserted to a probation officer that his own experience of online threats was "the same, if not worse".

But on jailing Boakye for three-and-a-half years, the judge said his "breathtakingly cruel" conduct had "traumatised" a young, vulnerable girl grieving for her brother.

"I agree with the prosecution that it is difficult to imagine a worse example than this of an adult male tormenting a teenage girl," he told Boakye.

"The content of your messages was graphic and plainly calculated to torment as much as possible and exploit pre-existing psychological wounds.

"While some episodes of stalking may endure for longer, this was not an offence that built up.

"You went straight in with highly offensive material designed to hurt and injure a child, and you just kept going.

"Your victim was particularly vulnerable. She was a 17-year-old schoolgirl whose brother was murdered when she was a child.

"Her vulnerability was the very reason you chose to target her and embark on your campaign against her."

Judge Taylor also spoke of the "stark contrast" between Boakye "sitting behind his keyboard tormenting" while her family campaigned for online safety.

"Your victim suffered horrific loss and with whatever energy they had left, they resolved to campaign for internet safety. They campaigned to make the world better and safer," he said.

"This was a remarkably generous and public-spirited way for this family to behave in the midst of the unimaginable torment they must have faced at losing someone they loved at a young age.

"You, in stark contrast, sat behind what you perceived to be the safety of your keyboard and sought to torment for no reason other than your enjoyment.

"I can think of few other cases deserving of such severe punishment. Your conduct was designed to increase pain on agonising loss.

"It is a truly sickening example of cowardly, depraved behaviour fuelled by the anonymity provided by the internet."

Boakye was also handed a 15-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Chloe and her parents.

The offence of stalking causing serious alarm or distress carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.

In considering the appropriate jail term for Boakye, Judge Taylor said he had taken his guilty plea into account, as well as his age at the time and the significant delay in court proceedings.

Despite Boakye's arrest and interview in the summer of 2019, he was not charged until September 2023 - a wait described as "disgracefully unjustifiable" by the judge.

Having been told by the prosecution that various investigations, including international ones with Snapchat, had to take place, as well as there being issues with Boakye's broken laptop, Judge Taylor said: "I cannot conceive how anyone thought it was appropriate to leave the victims of this crime in limbo for so long, and I consider it disgraceful."

Adding that the delay, which was not the fault of the defendant, was "extraordinary and unjustifiable" for both parties, he continued: "It took four years from arrest to charge. In a shocking case this is just another shocking aspect of it.

"While I appreciate the technological nature of the offending meant the context of the investigation was complex and interrupted by the worldwide pandemic, I do not accept it was justifiable for you (Boakye) or your victim to wait four years for a charge.

"It was a completely unjustifiable delay. It meant [the family] had another court case hanging over their heads for four years while they were trying to grieve."

Mrs LaFave says she hopes the sentence "sends a message to online criminals and harassers" that they face lengthy spells in prison.

"The mental struggle these people can cause - to lose sleep, to cause anxiety, being scared. Nobody should be able to do that,” she told KentOnline.

"We were left wondering who this person was and if he lived nearby. We didn't like not knowing who might be watching Chloe.

"I'm hoping this will act as a precedent so offenders know they can't hide behind a computer, and people can get justice and move on with their lives.

The court heard it was not the first time Breck's family had been subjected to such online activity, with a website and Twitter account having been set up in 2015 to target them.

Daynes, who was 18 when he fatally stabbed Breck at his flat in Grays, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015 with a minimum term of 25 years to be served before he can apply for parole.