Luke Littler

[Derlei]

Ignoring the fact that he looks nowhere near 16 years old(!) but if he is 16, then why are the DM romanticising his relationship with a 21 year old woman?

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-12917331/Luke-Littlers-girlfriend-posts-message-latest-victory.html

Been together since he was 12 🤢

Bollocks 🙄

He doesn’t look 16, does he? And, as a pp pointed out, his life experience is vastly different from most 16 year olds.

That is absolutely rubbish.

The age for marriage in England and Wales is 18. In N.Ireland it's 16 with parental consent. It's only 16 in Scotland, with no parental consent and only if you are domiciled in Scotland.

‘Been together since he was 12 🤢
That is absolutely rubbish.’

if that’s true then the police need to get involved to make sure the child wasn’t groomed or had any sexual experience - and his parents need to give their heads a good wobble for letting a 12 year old have a relationship with a 17 year old.

Of course it’s not true for goodness sake. They’ve been together about 6 weeks 🙄

Why are people so keen to believe this?

Also in respect of previous posts, not every older partner is a 'predator'.

The language being used here is so extreme

No, not every old partner is a predator. However a 21 year old adult seeking out a 16 year old child most definitely is. Its sad to see so many adults justifying her behaviour, also sad to see so many people using the ‘he looks older excuse’ a popular excuse among abusers and peadophiles.

Seeking out?

And he lives in Chester and she’s in Surrey…..so obv not seeing each other every day or probably even every week. They met playing Fortnite.

He’s 17 in under two weeks time.

I didn’t use “looks older” as an excuse. The context I said that in was in response to this question what could you possibly find attractive about a 16 year old at 21?!. As always, context is all. But context and nuance are alien concepts in some quarters of MN.

Agreed that when one party is under 18 five year age gaps feel more ick but they quickly don't matter as much and how people meet and the context does matter, no matter the genders.

The biggest flags to me are if one person is under 16, if the age gap goes into double figures, or if the older person is in authority over the younger eg a teacher, police officer etc.

I do think it's a situation where friends and family should be watchful absolutely but it's a weird one as he's not exactly experiencing a regular 16 year olds life right now and they bonded through a love of darts online.

It's also a very new relationship, so she's unlikely to have known him prior to him being 16 (since he's almost 17) How many people under 25 give a shit about darts? I can see why they'd bond over that.

The volume of online abuse she's been getting is a hell of a lot for anyone to deal with and will affect them both.

Yes it's not ideal, but just let the kid persue his dreams and let his family worry about watching out for his well being.

@Tempname24

Ok didn’t realise the law changed, fair enough, but It’s embarrassing how many view 16 as a child.

But a 16 year old is literally a child. So how is it embarrassing for people to view them as such?

Would you describe a 16 year old as "a man taking his GCSEs this year"?

I'm going to stick my head above the parapet and say I think he actually does look his age. He is a bit heavier than is ideal

And yes, the ages disturb me. For the sake of simplicity, I would ban relationships between under 18s and over 18s.

I couldn't be happy with this. He'll be 18 in just a year, can they not wait?

I think we need a safeguarding reset in this country. We don't have these laws to inconvenience the outliers who are "more mature for their age" or who "look older", we do it to protect the vulnerable.

Whether he looks his age is irrelevant anyway, he is 16 whether he looks it or not and I can’t wrap my head around someone being attracted to a 16 year old at 21. Completely different stages of their lives.

@whatsitcalledwhen from a biological point of view he and most other 16/17year olds are not children and have gone through puberty, therefore are not children. So while he is not an adult in the eyes of the law, he’s not a child either.
I think he perfectly capable of making informed decisions at almost 17.
@SpudleyLass really? I think that’s just being a bit ridiculous . Mumsnet is so weird! One minute your being unreasonable for not letting your 8 year old walk to school alone and being accused of babying them, next your being unreasonable for allowing your almost adult child to have a relationship with anyone other than their own age.
It’s no wonder young people are so incapable of dealing with life when the parents are treating them like infants.
I feel sorry for your kids if you have them, and you think like this- you'll be doing them no favours in the long run.

So as I asked @Tempname24, Would you describe a 16 year old as "a man taking his GCSEs this year"?

And @Tempname24 do you believe that 16 is too old for the legal age of consent?

well lucky for you, you don’t have to! Would you comment like this to someone in realife or mind your own business…

You feel sorry for my SEN child as I would refuse to allow a person in their twenties to date them when she is still legally a child?

No, a 21 year old dating a 16 year old is creepy.

I would personally raise the age of consent to 18, so everybody knows exactly where they stand.

It's odd to me the age of 16 only applies to teachers when there are many adults in a position of authority in a child's life at that age.

@SpudleyLass Does Luke Littler have SN?

How should I know?

I don't think it matters if he does or not, but my child does. And it wouldn't matter if my child didn't anyway.

It's odd that you would feel sorry for my child for my not wanting them to date somebody well into their adulthood when she will still be in education.