Boy, 13, hanged himself after being taunted about painful skin condition by school bullies

By James Tozer
Last updated at 9:34 AM on 13th November 2010

A schoolboy whose life was made a misery by bullies who taunted him for his skin condition was found hanged in his bedroom by his mother.

Sam Riley, 13, had been targeted since he was at nursery as a result of his eczema, and had told a counsellor he had thought about killing himself.

The school was warned he had threatened suicide over his treatment by bullies but tragically staff were unable to prevent him taking his life.

Described by his family as 'handsome and popular', Sam had begun missing lessons but didn't want his parents to complain to the school in case it made it worse, an inquest was told.

Now a coroner has ruled that his distress had been caused by the name-calling and bullying but concluded that he hadn't meant to kill himself.

Sam attended Oulder Hill Community School in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where he was described as a 'happy-go-lucky' boy and a passionate Liverpool FC fan.

But in the weeks leading up to his death in March last year, his parents, Steve and Deborah, said he was increasingly upset by the taunts prompted by his eczema, for which he required daily treatment.

'I know there was a lot of name calling,' Mrs Riley told the inquest.

'Sometimes he would not tell anyone and would keep it bottled up.

'He did not want me to go in and speak to the school about it because he said it would make it worse.

'I knew he kept being called names. He just used to say that he hated school.'

The inquest heard Mrs Riley discovered a noose in her son's room at the family home in Rochdale three months before the tragedy.

She made an appointment with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMS) where Sam admitted to a counsellor he had thought about hanging himself.

In a statement to the inquest, the counsellor said: 'Sam said he felt helpless and there were issues to do with bullying at school and this appeared to affect his self-esteem.

'He said he never told teachers about it.'

The school was informed of what he had said, but Myra Burke, pastoral director of Sam's school, told the hearing in Rochdale it was not aware of any serious bullying.

'The school was aware of some name-calling that had taken place, but this was not persistent and was dealt with by the staff when it was reported,' she said.

'He did not express at any time that he was being bullied.'

At the time of his death, Sam's mother described him as the 'sunshine of her life'.

'He was my beautiful boy,' she added. 'So handsome and popular, he had so many friends. I just can’t take it in that he has gone.

'I don't think he realised just how loved he was.'

Coroner Simon Nelson said neither the school nor Pennine Care, which provided the mental health services, could have done any more to avoid Sam's death.

'What I have heard is of a young man who would have been extremely distressed by the conditions that had affected him,' he said.

'I have no doubt this had an effect on his behaviour. I accept that he had been name-called throughout the great part of his life.

'In my view this amounts to bullying.'

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Mr Nelson said he didn't believe Sam had intended to kill himself.

'My conclusion is that this was not a deliberate act on Sam's part but a consequence that was unintended,' he added.

However his verdict was met with anger by Mrs Riley, who shouted in court: 'How can a 13-year-old go upstairs and do that without intending it? It is not right, you are wrong.'

A spokeswoman for Pennine Care said: 'Information was passed directly to the school and to the school health practitioner in relation to risks identified in our assessment.'

The school refused to comment.

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329175/Boy-13-hanged-taunted-painful-skin-condition-school-bullies.html