How soap stars’ favourite dog groomer was driven to suicide after trolls’ horror abuse – the sick texts that haunted him

LUKE Lister couldn’t believe his eyes as he looked through messages in a private WhatsApp group discussing sabotaging his nephew’s life, and then celebrating when he ultimately died by suicide.

Bailey Lister – known as Dr Doolittle – was an animal rescuer and dog groomer whose clients included stars, but behind the scenes a sick group of jealous trolls had banded together to take him down. The Sun reveals how a network of cowardly bullies systematically destroyed a talented young man’s life until he felt he had no other way out.

Poor Bailey was bombarded with constant abuse for months, with phone calls, social media posts and even bogus and RSPCA visits before his sudden death on May 7, aged just 22.

Days earlier he’d been working for clients on the Manchester set of Coronation Street, and had previously appeared on TV, but behind the scenes the horrific ordeal had left him broken.

Bailey had begun rescuing animals, including monkeys, snakes and porcupines, at the age of 14, and had gone on to launch a sanctuary as well as later run a grooming business.

However, success had seemingly nurtured a series of haters who would stop at nothing.

His uncle Luke has now made it his mission to expose those behind his nephew’s tragic death – and ensure they face justice.

He is also urging the government to provide more protection from online bullying, saying “the cruelty he endured became too much for him to carry”.

He added: “We must act decisively to put an end to this crisis.”

Sick messages, seen by The Sun, show how trolls hoped for Bailey’s death.

And in a secret group they had been using every day phrases like “chicken nuggets” – seemingly as bizarre code words while planning how to “sabotage” his work – before celebrating when they heard he’d died.

The campaign of abuse, which included lies being spread online that Bailey had been convicted of animal cruelty, had already led to a previous suicide attempt.

However, following an investigation, the police have said they can take no action against those responsible, the family claim.

Bailey’s uncle Luke told The Sun: “It was just disgusting what these people were saying – and Bailey couldn’t cope.”

Several groups, as well as the WhatsApp chat, seemed to have become hubs for abuse against Bailey, and even after his death were claiming he’d “taken the easy way out”.

Luke, 39, said: “I don’t entirely understand who these people were – or why they were targeting Bailey, but it was awful.”

He said he suspected there was jealousy around his growing social media presence, and success from a young age.

Prior to his death, Bailey’s mobile number had even been circulated and Luke says trolls were able to directly bombard him with calls and messages.

Luke said his nephew had first revealed to his family in December last year that he was struggling due to the unwanted attention.

“We tried our best to protect him from it, and encourage him to ignore them,” he explained.

“He shared the messages with me and they were disgusting.”

Bailey had recently been evicted from land in Hambleton, Lancashire, he used to run his charity Hugo’s Small Animal Rescue and Sanctuary.

He had previously been based at a different site in nearby Staining but amid a lack of funding had re-located.

At around 12.30pm on May 7, Luke was at work when he received a message out of the blue from Bailey’s mum Leanne telling him he had died.

“I went out into the hallway and called my sister,” he explained. “She said ‘can you get to the hospital?’

“I didn’t quite believe her, at first, I was just like Bailey’s done something to himself.”

However, on arriving at the hospital, Luke was taken to the bereavement room.

“I was thinking, this isn’t right, what’s happened?” he said.

Bailey, just three days from his 23rd birthday, had been found hanged at his house that morning.

At his home, the animal lover had an aviary and two little monkeys he’d reared from birth – since closing the full sanctuary.

As a result, Bailey and his partner had been getting visits from the RSPCA due to bogus reports of animal abuse, Luke claims.

He said: “It was just as if these trolls were making up lies to make his life as difficult as possible before he died.”

It’s unclear why Bailey closed the full sanctuary, but Luke understands he was struggling to keep up with the rent and had previously been reported to the police for the conditions there, though no action had ever been taken.

“It just ruined him because he’d been running that sanctuary since he was a teenager,” said Luke.

“It was just a continuous battle,” he explained. “We just tried to protect him from it and they just kept on going.”

Luke said Bailey had started off by adopting a baby rat when he was 14, who he named Hugo and took to school in his backpack, and who became the inspiration for his later sanctuary.

“We called him Dr Doolittle because even from a young age he would be coming out with facts about animals, it almost felt like he could speak to them,” he said.

He rescued everything from pigeons and skunks to more exotic animals over the years.

Luke last saw Bailey a couple of days before he died.

“He was really excited about grooming from the Coronation Street set… he would basically care for their dogs while they were filming,” he explained.

Luke added: “He seemed in a good place but obviously behind closed doors he was suffering.

“I think he was just putting on a facade for us.”

Following his nephew’s death, Luke said he “made it my mission” to get to the bottom of what had happened, and who was responsible.

He has since collected around one hundred pieces of alleged evidence of the abuse Bailey was enduring, much of which he’s sent to the police.

After an inquest was opened in July, Luke was approached by an anonymous woman on Facebook Messenger who told him she was part of a private WhatsApp messaging group set up to “sabotage” Bailey.

He was then sent screenshots in which participants appeared to use “code words” to mask what they were doing, including plans to steal items from the sanctuary.

“Then in the group chat, they’re laughing about lying to the police,” he added.

“Then when they found out that Bailey had passed away, they’re talking about, ‘I wonder what kind of noose he used.’”

The Sun has seen many of the exchanges.

Following his initial suicide attempt one person wrote “shame” and another added a laughing emoji.

They joked about getting the police out to his sanctuary, describing it as “all fun and games”, and how they’d been messaging Bailey’s donors encouraging them to stop providing him with .

One message said: “Wow he needs a bullet the cruel f***!” and then in another message revealed Bailey had died before someone responded with “good” before adding: “Sounds bad that, doesn’t it?”

Another person said “bloody good” and “he was a waste of oxygen”.

One message then said: “I bet that childhood, then being a gay c****** through school would’ve battered his mental .”

Someone else said: “Should have just drowned him at birth.”

However, other group members appear to have changed their tune after Bailey died, saying how much they admired him while turning on other trolls, with one writing: “It’s really sad he ended up that way… a big mess all round.”

A message from the whistleblower to Luke said: “I apologise deeply that I never stuck up for Bailey.”

He told The Sun: “It was all too little too late. What he suffered was horrible and they didn’t care what the outcome was.”

The Sun has approached Lancashire Police for comment.

Click here for Luke’s petition .