British man, 21, faces jail for goading suicidal American into killing himself with a shotgun over video call

A British man faces jail after admitting encouraging a suicidal American to shoot himself during a video call.

Dylan Phelan, from Morley in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to encouraging the suicide of Travis Dyer in Louisiana on October 30, 2024.

The 21-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday, where a judge told him to prepare himself for prison.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Phelan had been communicating with Mr Dyer, who has mental health problems, via the online platform Discord for several months.

Six months after Mr Dyer’s suicide, Phelan went with his parents to Elland Road Police Station in Leeds, where he told officers he had taken part in a video call in which Mr Dyer was encouraged to commit suicide with a shotgun next to him.

Phelan told West Yorkshire Police he had spoken to two other people from the US.

He also told police he was ‘interested in shady groups on Discord’ and ‘admitted that his own words were a factor in the suicide’.

A CPS spokesman said examination of his mobile phone also revealed he had an indecent image of a child and other images of extreme pornography.

Mr Dyer was encouraged to kill himself while on video call with two other Americans and Phelan

Judge Robin Mairs adjourned the case until May 22 for sentencing and granted Phelan bail on the condition that he is not allowed to own a device that can access the internet until then.

The court heard the sentencing hearing will be held in the afternoon so Mr Dyer’s family can attend via video link.

The judge told Phelan: ‘Do not take the fact that I have granted you bail and allowed these (pre-sentence and mental health) reports to be prepared as indicative of the sentence that will be given on 22 May and prepare yourself for custody.’

Phelan pleaded guilty at a hearing last month to one count of making an indecent image of a child in November 2024 and three counts of possessing extreme pornography in March 2025.

Mr. Dyer, 21, lived in Theriot, Louisiana, and lost his mother and younger sister in an accident 10 years before his own death.

In August 2014, 31-year-old Ashley Ann Worrell and her three-year-old daughter, Delaney Rae Lirette, were killed when their pickup truck overturned into a canal.

An obituary published on a funeral home website following Mr Dyer’s death described him as ‘sweet, kind, quiet, gentle and very caring towards his loved ones’.

It read: ‘Travis will be forever loved and greatly missed by all who knew him.’

A memorial message sent by his great-grandmother read: ‘Travie, we miss you. Needless to say, I am so far from myself. I don’t know what to say or how to say it.

‘Honey, you are so unlucky to have experienced so much tragedy in your young life. This was completely unfair to you.’

Alex Johnson, senior specialist prosecutor in the CPS Special Crime Section, said: ‘This was a deeply disturbing case involving the exploitation of a vulnerable young man through an online platform.

‘Dylan Phelan didn’t just witness what happened; She actively participated in convincing Travis Dyer to take his own life and thought he would do so.

‘Online spaces are not outside the scope of the law. Promoting self-harm or suicide in person or through digital platforms is a serious offence.

‘Our thoughts are with Travis Dyer’s family and friends. We hope today’s conviction will bring them some measure of justice.’

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