Sick online trolls cause more distress for family of Leah Croucher

Leah's sister Jade has spoken out about how hurtful and inflammatory comments have been made on social media.

Many of them tell the family "just to accept that Leah is dead".

Jade said: "It's horrible. We read everything that is written about Leah and read all the comments too. People should know how hurtful they are."

Her parent John and Claire said: “To those that have commented negatively on social media, and have told us to accept that Leah has gone and we should move on with our lives, we won’t apologise for continuing the search for Leah.

"We can’t accept it, we won’t accept it and we will never give up."

The vast majority of comments on social media are supportive and expressing sympathy, and these are a comfort, say the Crouchers..

They are still keen for Leah's story to be shared as widely as possible, particularly to other areas of the UK and abroad, in the hope that a vital clue will one day emerge.

The Citizen will monitor comments carefully on our website and delete any that could cause distress to Leah's family.