Boy may not have meant to kill himself, inquest hears
A teenager who hanged himself a couple of hours after being questioned about a sexual encounter with a fellow pupil may not have intended to kill himself, a coroner said.
John Gittins, the coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a narrative conclusion on 15-year-old Yale Howarth, a pupil at Ysgol Dinas Bran, Llangollen, who died in January 2013.
The three-day inquest in Ruthin was told that after the interview, assistant head Dafydd Morris,who was head of child protection, allegedly told school nurse Sian Hughes they should "let him sweat on it".
Mr Morris denied having made the comment, adding: "I would never have said anything like that."
During the interview Yale, whom staff regarded as an intelligent, gifted and polite pupil, admitted he and the girl had drunk a lot of alcohol at a party and some sexual foreplay had then occurred with the girl's consent.
The incident came to light when the girl asked a member of school staff for a "morning after" pill because she had been so drunk she didn't know if she had had sex.
The matter was referred to social services at Wrexham County Council but social worker Paula Moran broke down as she gave evidence on the advice she gave to school nurse Sian Hughes.
She said that when she advised that Yale be interviewed she was unaware the girl had accepted his version that they had not had sex.
Miss Moran denied advising Mr Morris that Yale's parents should not be contacted.
Members of staff who spoke to pupils in the days after Yale's death said he had expressed concern he could be sent to prison.
Following the teenager's death his father Mark Howarth, of Black Park, Chirk, lodged a formal complaint that if he and Yale's mother Della had been told about the incident they could have supported him.
The coroner read statements from officials of Wrexham and Denbighshire councils detailing the changes in procedures introduced following an investigation into the tragedy.
