Teachers ‘dismissed’ bully fears of parents before son’s suicide
Tragedy of three boys from the same school
‘Dismissive and arrogant’
A BOy of 13 hanged himself after being bullied at school, at home and on social media.
Fellow pupils mercilessly taunted Arin lyth in class and made abusive remarks about his parents online. The yobs even hurled stones at the family’s home.
Arin was one of three pupils from the same school to die in similar circumstances in nine months. His parents said his suffering was arrogantly dismissed by staff at Northfield School in Billingham, Teesside.
Details of his ordeal were revealed at his inquest at Teesside Coroner’s Court yesterday. A friend said pupils teased Arin about his sexuality and went to the family home ‘to throw stones at the windows’.
He said: ‘There was an incident in a school corridor when two boys would not let him past, they were calling him gay and asked him “why don’t you slit your wrists?”’
Another friend recalled an incident in which a boy rubbed a condom in Arin’s face. Arin told a friend on Snapchat: ‘No one understands, everyone hates me. My only regret is having a life.’ last December Arin switched schools to Northshore Academy, Stockton-on-Tees but he was soon targeted again, the inquest heard. Posters mocking him were put up around the school.
On January 11 Arin texted his girlfriend, who was at his former school, and told her he was going to kill himself.
The girl begged him to call her and when he did she could tell he was outdoors. Arin said only ‘bye’ and hung up. His body was found in the early hours of the following day in a field behind his home in Billingham.
Following his death, three boys from Northfield and a girl from Northshore were arrested but not prosecuted. Assistant coroner Jo Wharton recorded a verdict of suicide. After the hearing Arin’s family released a statement saying bullying had been reported to the school on ‘numerous occasions’.
It added: ‘ He was targeted at school, on the way home and even to him the at extent home of and bullies prolongedtargeting attacks via social media. When a family member contacted the school the response was of a dismissive, arrogant nature. Our family was made to feel as if they were wrong for reporting it.
‘Our family is determined in its fight to pursue justice for Arin. We want to send a clear message that bullying has no place in society and should not be tolerated and those who choose to bully should be dealt with by the authorities in the correct manner.’ Both of Arin’s elder brothers were bullied at the school. Their mother Elizabeth, 36, is separated from their father James. Northfield also came under fire from the mother of Harry gray, 15, who hanged himself in April last year after being bullied. She accused the school of a lack of action. Elton Harland, a 13-year- old schoolfriend of Harry at Northfield, was found dead days after the hanging. His inquest has not yet been held. A spokesman for Northfield said it treats ‘any report of bullying with the utmost urgency and sympathy’. An Ofsted inspection last summer found that ‘serious bullying is exceptionally rare’.
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