A college A level student hanged himself two days after his family home was damaged when he threw a party to celebrate his birthday.
Luke Taylor, 16, had been allowed to have a group of 20 friends round to mark his forthcoming 17th but his mother returned from a trip to the cinema to find the property in a mess.
The teenager offered to pay for damage to a ceiling and helped clear up the rest of the property when he was confronted the following morning and appeared to shrug off his mother’s telling off.
Luke Taylor (pictured) was found dead the day before his birthday leaving his distraught parents clueless as to why he hanged himself
But 24 hours later and just a day before his actual birthday Luke was found dead outside his bedroom when his grandmother arrived at the house to drop off a birthday badge.
Police spoke to friends who attended the youngster’s party on May 5 this year and examined his mobile phone and social media but found no clues as to why he would take his own life. At an inquest a coroner said she could not be sure he intended to kill himself.
Luke a Year 12 pupil studying history, business and economics at Cheadle sixth form college in Stockport, Greater Manchester, had been due to to sit his mock exams and was predicted to get B grades. Staff at the 800-student college described him as a ‘polite, quiet young man who was popular with his peers and never seen without a smile on his face.’
Hospital worker Caroline (pictured) is struggling to understand why her son died
He was also an avid Stockport County FC fan and regularly went to matches and got on well with his younger brother, aged 13.
His mother Caroline, a hospital worker, told the Stockport hearing: ‘It was soon to be Luke’s 17th birthday so we let him have a party on Sunday with some friends.
‘When the party was on, we went to the cinema to get out of the way but we got home at 10.15pm and the house was a bit of a mess. Luke has obviously had quite a good time and he was in bed but I wasn’t very happy about the state of the house.
‘I had a conversation the following day with Luke about the mess after the party and he took it well. He apologised for the mess and he helped me to clean up and paid for some of the damage. He seemed himself and didn’t say anything else had gone wrong. There was some damage to the ceiling but he didn’t know who had done that.
‘We were supposed to go for a family meal but he wasn’t feeling up to it, so we stayed at home and got a takeaway and watched TV. He was his usual self then we all went to bed. The following day, 7th May, I got up and went to work but he wasn’t up when I left to go to work. Later that morning I sent him a text saying ‘are you up and ok?’ and he replied at 9.25am saying ‘yes cheers’.
‘His grandmother was going round at midday to drop off a birthday badge. She said he had to wear it, she would write on the back of it saying ‘you must wear this all day’. She knocked on the door and went in and shouted for him then went upstairs and realised something was wrong.
‘Luke’s death has been a terrible shock to me, his dad and the rest of the family. We didn’t think he was depressed about anything, we thought he had a good stable life, he had things to look forward to. We were worried something happened at the party, but there is nothing we have heard from anyone to suggest he had been.
‘We just can’t understand why he’s done this. He never tried to do anything like that before. His family loved him very much, I wish I could understand what happened that day.
The youngster’s parents are baffled as to why their son died after he had a group of friends over for a party
‘He hadn’t said anything to his friends. He had a few different groups of friends, some from primary school, up to his County friends and not one person had said anything that would give us a clue. He wasn’t impulsive, had no mental illnesses and was looking forward to a family holiday in Spain with his grandparents and younger brother. He was a very positive boy and had no worries about his exams.’
In a statement one of Luke’s friends said: ‘I last saw him on May 5 at the party and there were 15 to 20 friends there. Luke went to bed at 10pm and asked a friend to get rid of everyone. His mum came back then I left a short time later.
‘The following day we spoke throughout the day. We were laughing and joking about Luke’s mum being cross about the damage caused from the party. Then the following day I found out what happened, I’m in complete shock and cannot believe what had happened.’
The Stockport County fan (pictured) was found dead at his home but police could find no clue as to why he would hang himself
‘I’ve known Luke since primary school. He was really funny, cared for others and making jokes. He never mentioned anything significant about feeling down.’
Another friend said in a statement: ‘I went to the party and we were drinking cider. The next day I spoke to Luke on Snapchat and I offered to help cleaning up. This has come completely out of the blue. He was a happy, social person who had no problems on his mind. I wasn’t aware of any issues.’
Det Insp Roger Edwards of Greater Manchester Police said: ‘ From the investigation we did and the evidence we got from the witnesses who knew Luke, there was nothing to suggest he was involved in any altercation or fight at the party or anything in the intervening weeks leading up to the party. We did checks to see if he was involved in anything that could have got him in trouble but he wasn’t.
‘He was unknown to police systems and we cannot find anything suspicious about his death. We looked at his Netflix account and searches in the internet, there was nothing to overtly suggest he was self harming.
‘We talked to a certain amount of people who were very close to him at the party. We wanted to see what happened and where there was any suggestion he had fallen out with somebody but there was nothing to suggest this was the case.’
Police coroners officer Andrew Stevenson said: ‘The day before his death Luke had been swapping messages with his father talking about the party. He said he had people round and his mum wasn’t happy about the state of the house.
‘There was a message from a friend about getting drinks in, and Luke said he had Strongbow, for the party. We had a look at Instagram and Snapchat and there were no recent posts and there was nothing on his Facebook of any relevance’.
Spencer Davis assistant principal at Cheadle College said: ‘Luke had a personal tutor who is the first person to pick up on any signs of discomfort or distress but there is no evidence this was needed. His reports show he was in line for his target academically and there is nothing to say he was struggling or worried. Speaking to his friends at college, he seemed a very happy well adjusted popular type of person. It was a huge shock.’
Recording a narrative conclusion Stockport Coroner Alison Mutch said: ‘ What has come across to me is he was an incredibly nice child and incredibly popular and kind person. He was a child who nobody had any concerns about, who seemed to be perfectly happy.
‘There had been a party at the home address but that party was no different to another other party held by a child of 17 and it seemed to be a little bit boisterous. But he had never been in trouble with anyone and there is absolutely nothing to suggest he had taken anything inappropriate. It was very clear he shrugged off the worries for the damage of the house and he wasn’t concerned.
‘There is nothing to suggest anything happened on that Sunday. Police conducted extensive enquiries and there are no suspicious circumstances or evidence of third party involvement. I cannot be sure he intended to take his own life.’
Following Luke’s death his family raised £1,000 for PAPYRUS – the national charity for the prevention of young suicide.
- For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.