Tragic accident of boy, nine, who hanged himself on treadmill

A NINE-year-old boy died after accidentally hanging himself with his mother’s scarf while playing on a treadmill.

Kyle Storr, described as a “cheeky and happy boy’’ by his headmaster, was found by his mother face down suspended from a horizontal bar on the treadmill with her scarf wrapped round his neck.

An inquest at Halifax Town Hall yesterday heard that Tracey Hayes screamed for help from his two older brothers, Darren and Liam, while she attempted resuscitation and waited for the emergency services to arrive at their home in Mixenden, Halifax, on December 23, 2008.

Coroner Roger Whittaker said a report by Det Insp Tony Nicholson showed that Kyle was “not only a cheeky and fun and happy boy’’ but was also a “high-achieving and proud young boy in the top set for mathematics and on or above average for other subjects.’’

Mr Nicholson said that prior to the tragedy Ms Hayes had moved the treadmill into the corner of the room because Kyle had damaged some of his jumpers by playing on it and hooking them over the bar.

He said there was a “considerable amount of evidence that she loved her sons’’ though concerns had been expressed about cleanliness and hygiene at the home.

He said there was no evidence that Kyle suffered from depression or suicidal tendencies.

Mr Whittaker said: “There is no evidence that this young boy intended the consequences of his actions on the treadmill. This seems to me to be a system of play devised by Kyle with a scarf and clothing. The scarf was looped round the horizontal bars of the treadmill and in some slip he has caught his neck within the scarf which has caused him to be hanged accidentally.’’