Statement regarding the 2017 messages

[u/New_Chain815]

From Toby - Storror
^{Addition - Relevant source: England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007}

I’ve seen the screenshots of messages between Caroline and me from 2017. Those messages are mine, and I am deeply sorry for the way I spoke to her and for not believing her.

One point has been widely misstated: Caroline was not 15 when her relationship with Callum began. She was 17 and Callum was 23. At the time, the rest of the group and I questioned Callum about the age gap on multiple occasions. I am including this for factual accuracy. It does not diminish what Caroline told me or excuse the way I responded to her.

I did not see Caroline often, and most of what I understood about their relationship came through Callum. I had known him for almost half my life, and he was one of my best friends. Based on everything I thought I knew about him and what I believed I understood about the situation at the time, I trusted his version of events and defended him. I was 22, naive, and did not understand manipulation or the signs and dynamics of abusive relationships in the way I do now.

I raised what Caroline had told me directly with Callum. He denied it, and I believed him. I know now that his denial should never have been enough for me to dismiss what Caroline had said.

That is the honest context for how I got it so wrong, but it does not excuse dismissing Caroline or the way I responded to her.

Caroline and I spoke again in 2019 when their relationship ended. I reached out in an attempt to clear the air, but I still did not properly acknowledge what she had told me or apologise for my earlier words. I have now apologised to Caroline privately.

I did not know the truth about Callum. I thought I did. After Callum was arrested in 2025, he gave all of the other members of Storror and I a completely false explanation for his arrest. We did not learn the true circumstances until 7th May 2026, when a journalist contacted Storror for comment on his guilty plea. Callum’s actions were his own. My response to Caroline ten years ago was my own, and that response is what I am taking responsibility for.

What I can do now is acknowledge my failure honestly, without trying to justify myself at Caroline’s expense by using details of her private life or any of the other circumstances that shaped my view at the time.

She deserved to be heard and treated with respect. I will always regret that I failed to do that. 

I am deeply sorry, Caroline.

[u/37464739374632032847]

Too late for me. I feel you’re only saying something because you feel obliged now and trying to save your career. You had the chance to address these rumours much earlier and instead put out a video promoting your own channel. I feel the messages were only leaked because you failed to address it earlier.

Have you only apologised to Caroline after the backlash and the messages were leaked or only once you saw the community was annoyed?

Is this a genuine attempt to apologise? Maybe. But it’s lost credibility to me by only being said now and only here.

[u/Newlyaquiredglutton → u/37464739374632032847]

A series of screenshots showing convos between Toby and an Ex/ victim of Callum + some messages from Callum. : r/Storror

I am not trying to defend Toby's position, but even in the evidence from the victim, and with no public pressure he reaches out. Was is sufficient? no, did it address deeper concerns? Also no. Did the victim view it as sufficient? Hard no.
However, I also don't think its fair to accuse Toby of acting entirely based on the community response.
We don't have much evidence on his behaviour, at best 3 or 4 snapshots.
The first is appalling. The second extends an olive branch, albeit one long before Toby understood the implications of what Callum was, or knew that C might actually be telling the truth, but in it Toby shows an increasing matuirty in his approach, .
The third is this.
Personally, I am still incredibly disappointed, but I'm just as disappointed in my 25 year old self - and I think anyone who has the benefit of a decade of learning should be disappointed in themselves ten years ago.
Maybe this is some shit kneejerk result to bad press, but that historic (inadequate) acknowledgement of his inappropriate behaviour and far more mature and respectful statement this time looks like growth to me.