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Hanging tragedy of Leeds boy, 13
Damion Thornton.
The heartbroken parents of a tragic teenager have warned other young people not to act on impulse after their son was found hanged in his bedroom.
Damion Thornton was 13 when his mum Deborah Bould found him hanging by his old school tie at their home on Broadway in Halton, Leeds, on January 17 last year.
The teenager, who had been diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette’s Syndrome, had been sent to his room for fighting with his brother Ellis, then 15.
His inquest, held at Leeds Coroner’s Court yesterday, heard that Damion sometimes had extreme reactions to being told off – possibly caused by his learning difficulties – and had briefly run away from home twice in the past.
Coroner David Hinchliff gave a verdict of misadventure and said he did not believe Damion, a pupil at Corpus Christi Catholic College, had intended to kill himself.
He added: “I don’t think for a moment that he has deliberately done this to end his life.
“On hearing the evidence, it seems he was drawing attention to himself. He had got into a strop, like young people do, and taken foolish action.”
Addressing Ms Bould and Damion’s father Simon Thornton, he said: “You shouldn’t blame yourselves. It wasn’t your fault, it was just unfortunate that Damion reacted in the way he did.
“He would have had no understanding that doing what he did would have ended his life.”
Ms Bould had picked Ellis and Damion up from school at 3.10pm on January 17 and had called at the nearby Lidl supermarket on her way home.
Both boys stayed in the car and when she returned after five minutes, Damion was in the back seat with his hands around Ellis’s neck in the front seat.
When they got home, she sent Damion up to his room and told him to clean it, before taking the dogs for a walk while Ellis watched TV downstairs.
When she returned, she started preparing dinner and then went upstairs, where she found Damion unconscious and hanging from the bunk bed.
He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary but pronounced dead a short time later.
After the inquest, Ms Bould and Mr Thornton quashed stories that Damion had been bullied and praised his teachers and classmates for their support after Damion’s death.
Ms Bould, who adopted Damion when he was nine months old, added: “We will never know or understand why this happened. I cannot believe Damion wanted to end his life as he was such a happy, outgoing boy.”
Speaking after the verdict, she added: “I know Damion wouldn’t do that and the coroner thought so too. We want this to be a warning to any young people who may impulsively decide to do something like this, because it happens so quickly and there’s no going back.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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