Vegan, 12, killed himself after bullies threw meat at him
A BOY hanged himself after bullies discovered he was vegan and began throwing meat at him in the school canteen, an inquest has heard.
Louie Tom Fenton, 12, was found dead in his family bathroom on Jan 19. He had endured years of bullying, Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court in Hatfield heard.
The coroner was told that Catherine Fenton, his mother, approached the school, Richard Hale School, in Hertford, several times, but the bullying continued.
Stephen Neate, head teacher of Richard Hale School, promised yesterday that the school would learn lessons from this “tragic case”. He said: “We were aware of concerns about Louie being unhappy at school and we were actively engaged with him and his family to address these issues.
“However, at no time were we made aware of the incident in which meat was allegedly thrown at Louie.”
He said: “The safety, happiness and well-being of all pupils at Richard Hale is of paramount importance and the school prides itself on its pastoral care, which has been recognised in our most recent Ofsted report.”
Louie’s father, Graeme, wrote to the court explaining that he believed that Louie did not mean to kill himself and was “messing around”.
Geoffrey Sullivan, the coroner, said there was no evidence that Louie, of Waterford, Herts, had intended to kill himself, and gave an open verdict.