Phoebe Prince's mother lashes out at daughter's tormentors as the bullied teen's ex gets off with probation



Phoebe's tearful mother Anne O'Brien: 'There is a dead weight that now sits permanently in my chest'

Bullied: Phoebe Prince, 15, killed herself on January 14 3020

Two teenagers have been convicted in connection with the suicide of Phoebe Prince who hanged herself after months of relentless bullying.

Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, both 18, pleaded guilty to the criminal harassment of Phoebe who was just 15 when she died.

She had moved to Massachusetts from Ireland in 2009 and briefly dated Mulveyhill.

Narey, an ex of Mulveyhill's, and her friends then began bullying Prince, who killed herself in January 2010.



In a tearful victim impact statement, Phoebe's mother Anne O' Brien broke her silence and said: 'There is a dead weight that now sits permanently in my chest.'

She cried the whole way through the hearing and called Mulveyhill's relationship with her daughter 'predatory'.

O'Brien also read out one of her daughter's final anguished text messages: 'I think Sean condoning this is one of the final nails in my coffin.'



Mulveyhill did not speak today.



Relentless: Phoebe, right, is said to have suffered a prolonged period of bullying because she dated Mulveyhill when she arrived in Massachusetts

But Narey broke down in tears as she apologized to her victim, 'I was the weak one and that behavior will always be with me. I’m sorry, Phoebe.



'I am sorry about the unkind things I said, I'm sorry I laughed when someone was shouting things at you.

Sean Mulveyhill pleaded guilty to harassment though was earlier cleared of statutory rape

'I am immensely ashamed of myself,' she went on. 'I am sorry for my role in this tragedy and I am deeply sorry for what my behavior has caused my family, my loving friends and the South Hadley community.'



They are the only two of the six teenagers who were charged in connection with Phoebe's bullying-related suicide at South Hadley High school.



Both 18-year-olds were ordered to do 100 hours of community service to help at-risk children, complete their high school education, and were barred from profiting from their involvement in the Phoebe Prince case.



As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped civil rights charges against Mulveyhill.

Three other teenagers charged with stalking, harassment and civil rights violations causing bodily injury had previously reached deals in the case. The sixth teen's case is still pending in Superior Court.

After their initial arrests, they had all pled not guilty to the charges but later agreed to a misdemeanour harassment charge.



Getting an admission that a crime had occurred was important to Phoebe's family, Assistant District Attorney Stephen Gagne said.

He said that Mulveyhill 'acknowledges his conduct went far beyond what constitutes normal and acceptable high school behaviour'.



Vincent Bongiorni, Mulveyhill's lawyer, said the plea accurately reflected what his client did.



'I think the recommendation being made to the court is a fair and equitable one, given the entirety of the circumstances,' he said.

Mulveyhill had also been charged with statutory rape in the first instance, but this was dropped under the earlier plea agreement.

He was 17 when he dated Phoebe while she was only 15.



When Phoebe Prince moved to Massachusetts from County Clare 2009 she was almost immediately met with a bullying campaign which included slurs about her Irish heritage, insults on Facebook calling her a 'whore' and a 'slut' and threats to beat her up.

She was said to have been stalked and verbally harassed from September 2009 until she was found hanging on the stairwell by her younger sister in January 2010.