The mother of an autistic student who took his own life in the toilets of his sixth form college has told a coroner that the organisation failed him. Sam Coutts, 18, was found dead at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington in January.
An inquest into his death heard that he had attended a meeting with the vice principal about social media posts in which he expressed that he had a crush on his support worker. CCTV showed that he went straight from the meeting to the toilets, where his body was found three hours later by the college principal.
Mother's statement on duty of care
His mother, Kirsten Coutts, said Sam would have felt ashamed after the meeting, which he was allowed to leave alone. In a statement summarised by the coroner, she said: "The college did not care appropriately and acceptably for my son. They failed completely in their duty of care."
The inquest, held in Crook, County Durham, heard how Sam had previously suffered from bullying at secondary school. He tried hard to mask his autism and did not want to be treated differently.
Background and support arrangements
He was studying A-levels in psychology, applied science and biology – which he hoped to read at St John York University. His mother said the change made him anxious and he would go straight to bed after coming home from college if he was stressed.
The college was aware that he had autism and he was assigned a support worker. Ms Coutts said she was contacted by the college after the support worker apparently found Reddit posts he made talking about a crush he had on her. In his posts, he also discussed taking oxytocin at college in an apparent bid to alleviate his autistic traits. Ms Coutts, a nurse, was sceptical about how the support worker found the Reddit posts, given that Sam's account was not under his real name.
Meeting and aftermath
On January 13, the college called a meeting in which Sam was told he would have a different support worker. The day before, his mother spoke to the safeguarding lead and said she urged staff to treat Sam gently. She said that prior to the meeting, Sam told her he felt embarrassed and ashamed. He asked her if the Reddit posts made him seem "creepy and weird" and she reassured him that they did not, saying they had been respectful.
After meeting Sam, the college vice principal Theresa Amarawansa rang Ms Coutts to say that the teenager was "positive and fine". Ms Coutts said in her statement: "I said I find that hard to believe and the call ended."
She missed a subsequent call from the college as she was on shift at a hospital, telling her that Sam was missing from his psychology lesson. She tried to call back but was told staff were dealing with an emergency but she was told it did not involve her son. After she left work that lunchtime, Ms Coutts said she saw police and paramedics activity at the college but reminded herself that she had been told on the phone that it did not involve her son. The inquest heard how police then arrived at her home to say that Sam had died.
Impact and ongoing inquest
Ms Coutts said her "vulnerable" autistic son would have felt that "a rug had been pulled" when he was told about the change in support worker. She also stated how he was not found for three hours after the meeting, despite him being marked as absent from his lessons.
The inquest also heard how Sam had intervened when a family member had a mental health crisis three months before and he managed to save their life by talking to them. His mother described him as loving, gentle, quiet, engaging, adventurous and erudite, with a wicked sense of humour. The inquest, which is expected to last three days, continues.
