Hollie Gazzard: Facebook refuses to remove photograph of murder victim posing with killer ex-boyfriend
The 20-year-old was stabbed 14 times by Asher Maslin in February last year
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Your support makes all the difference.The family of a young hairdresser murdered in a savage attack by her ex-boyfriend have repeatedly appealed to Facebook to remove photographs of the pair together.
Nine images of Hollie Gazzard, 20, who was stabbed 14 times by Asher Maslin in February last year, are still visible online.
Her father, Nick Gazzard, said they made him "feel sick" and criticised the social media site's apparent refusal to take them down.
He told BBC One's Inside Out West on Monday that he tries not to go into her Facebook site as, "I get quite distressed by it".
"We would like to continue to remember the good times we had with her but are left traumatised when you see her with him," he added. "Their policy is wrong but I am not hopeful they will change their minds."
But Facebook told the BBC it was "unable" to do anything in this case due to its policy of not allowing changes to be made to memorialised profiles following a user's death.
And a spokesperson explained to The Times: “People have told us that they would like to leave a legacy on Facebook. We memorialise accounts to provide a place of remembrance and maintain the profile as it was when the person passed away.
"We understand in tragic cases such as this it may mean there are sometimes painful reminders, but memorialised accounts are designed to preserve the privacy of the deceased.”
Hollie was stabbed in front of her colleagues in Gloucester, while working at Fringe Benefits and La Bella Beauty salon. She died later in hospital.
Maslin, who was 22 at the time of the attack, was sentenced to life in prison in July. He must serve a minimum of 24 years.
Gary Rycroft, chair of the digital assets working group of the Law Society, told the BBC that he would advise Mr Gazzard to write to Facebook withdrawing the copyright of Hollie's photographs. He said he would encourage him to ask for the specific pictures to be removed.