Bullied teenager found hanged at school theatre after 60 classmates taunted him about his curly hair

Last updated at 11:26 16 January 2008


A bullied teenager was found hanged at his school after up to 60 classmates taunted him about his curly hair.

Talented drama student Bradley Parkin, 17, was discovered in the props room at the site, next to the stage where he had played the lead role in a production of Grease just weeks earlier.

At an inquest into his death held today, the coroner heard that he had been mocked about his curls and nicknamed "Noodles".

Daniel Travis, a former pupil at the Lindsey Upper School in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire where Bradley died, said other students had taunted the dead boy about his appearance.

Counsel to the inquest Rodney Ferm asked 20-year-old Mr Travis: "Did you ever find out if Bradley had a nickname?"

Mr Travis replied: "Yes. Noodles. I heard someone call him it. On numerous occasions there were up to 60 pupils at once. It was directed at his hair."

Another former pupil and friend of Bradley's, Andrew Johnson told the Scunthorpe hearing: "I was aware that Bradley would get some stick at school like bullying where the kids would call him names."

Mr Travis said he believed Bradley was largely unaffected by the name-calling.

He said: "He used to take it on the chin. He seemed to laugh it off. Obviously people closest to him never used the name but he didn't seem to take it to heart."

Former deputy head teacher Elizabeth Shawhulme claimed he had not been bullied while he was at the school.

In a statement to police she said: "I was not aware of Bradley being subject to any bullying while in the sixth form."

Bradley was found hanging on February 22, 2000.

An inquest in Grimsby in September, 2001 recorded an open verdict but Bradley's mother Shanie Parkin challenged the findings and in march, 2005 the High Court ordered a fresh inquest.

On the opening day of the new hearing, the coroner John Sleightholme was told by two pathologists that Bradley could have slipped from a chest of drawers and accidentally hanged himself.

But they said all the evidence pointed to him deliberately hanging himself and there were no signs of a struggle or third party involvement.

The cause of death was given as asphyxiation through suspension by the neck.

The hearing continues.

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