Schoolboy hanged himself after fighting with brother

Damion Thornton, 13, was found by his mother Deborah Bould who had earlier reprimanded him for scuffling with his brother.

Damion had been told to go to his bedroom and tidy it up, the inquest in Leeds heard yesterday. He was found a short time later by his mother and was taken to hospital but could not be saved.

The hearing was told that Damion had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Tourette’s Syndrome and his behaviour could be impulsive and occasionally “extreme”. His mother said her son enjoyed school in Leeds, particularly studying history, and was not generally naughty or cheeky and he had friends.

However, Damion was the type of boy that some people took advantage of and some boys he knew would ask him to do foolish things.

There was no evidence of bullying at school, the inquest heard, but there was a suggestion that outside school he may have been picked on and there had been some “name calling”, although Damion himself may not have seen it as bullying.

Mrs Bould said her son, whom she adopted as a baby, could react in an extreme way to being punished or told off for wrongdoing. He had run away from home on two separate occasions, once after being punished for stealing money from the family home in Halton Moor, Leeds.

On the day of his death in January last year, Mrs Bould had driven to the supermarket, leaving Damion and his brother in the car as she went shopping for a few minutes.

When she returned she saw that Damion had his arm around his brother’s neck. Later, at home, Mrs Bould had admonished her son for fighting and told him to go to his room and to tidy up while he was there.

In a statement, Mrs Bould said she did not know why her son had reacted in the way he had.

“I don’t know why Damion did what he did. I keep playing things over. I don’t know if he really wanted to do that or if he did it for attention. I will never know.”

West Yorkshire coroner David Hinchliff said he believed that Damion had not intended to take his own life.

“I don’t believe for a moment that he has deliberately done that to end his own life. He got into a strop, as young people do, and took this foolish action.”

He recorded a verdict of misadventure, saying that Damion had not intended the consequences of his actions.

“It’s unfortunate that Damion reacted in the way he did,” said Mr Hinchliff.

He urged Mrs Bould not to blame herself in any way. “Entirely reasonably, you told him to go to his bedroom.

“I would hope that when you go through this in your mind, you should not blame yourself.

“I think what Damion has done is to react by trying to draw attention to himself...he would not have had any idea that he would go into unconsciousness.”

Mr Hinchliff said it was not clear how much Damion’s behaviour had been affected by him being a young adolescent and how much by the conditions from which he suffered.

A case report by experts concluded that Damion had lived in a family that provided him with “love, support, comfort and strength”.

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