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Loyalists troll Twelfth TV documentary teen

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A TEENAGER has been bombarded with threatening and abusive messages from loyalist internet trolls after appearing in a BBC documentary about the Twelfth. Tania Lavery was forced to delete her Twitter account after receiving a barrage of offensive messages including death threats and rape threats. The 19-year-old took part in the BBC Three show Petrol Bombs and Peace: Welcome to Belfast which focused on Twelfth of July tensions in the north of the city. One alarming image posted following the broadcast on Monday evening attempted to identify her Ardoyne home. Ms Lavery's experience comes amid increasing concern over Twitter trolls - people who send abusive messages using the social network - threatening rape and violence against women. Labour MP Stella Creasy is among a host of high-profile recent targets. Earlier this week it also emerged that 14-year-old Leicestershire schoolgirl Hannah Smith had taken her own life as a result of relentless cyberbullying on the Ask.fm social-networking site. Ms Lavery, a former pupil of Holy Cross Primary School, said she is afraid to be in her own home and has had difficulty sleeping since receiving the death threats. "A man wrote that he hopes I get raped at the bus stop and talked about how I'm a tramp, that I'm a bigoted scumbag," she said. "My phone literally wouldn't stop because I had over a hundred friend requests on Facebook. "They found my Twitter and they found my YouTube because I sing and they are making fun of it. "I deleted my Twitter because people were just making up lies." The documentary followed BBC reporter Alys Harte as she spoke to Orange bandsmen and young Catholics in Ardoyne ahead of this year's Twelfth. Ms Lavery and her friend Roisin Holmes (18), who are from a Catholic background, gave their views and told of their experiences. Both have since received abuse online. Ms Lavery said she was determined to cope with the threats. "They think that all this stuff is going to change who I am but it's not," she said. "Yes, I am afraid to be in my house and I'm afraid to go outside on my own but it's not going to change me." Ms Lavery said some Orangemen involved in the programme had sent her supportive messages online. "The guy that messaged me said we should all go for a drink some time, even though we were both on the show and we clearly had different opinions," she said.