College failed autistic son, mother tells inquest

A high-functioning autistic student who took his own life in the toilets of his sixth form college was failed by his school, his mother has told a coroner.

Sam Coutts, 18, was found dead at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, in January, following a meeting with bosses in which he was told his support worker would be replaced after he revealed he had a crush on her.

At an inquest in Crook, County Durham, his mother Kirsten Coutts said Sam would have felt ashamed after the meeting, which he was allowed to leave alone.

CCTV showed he went from the meeting to the toilets where his body was found three hours later by the college principal.

In a statement summarised by coroner Crispin Oliver, Sam's mother said: "The college did not care appropriately and acceptably for my son.

"They failed completely in their duty of care."

Sam, who had previously been bullied at secondary school, tried hard to mask his autism and did not want to be treated differently, the inquest heard.

He was studying A-levels in psychology, applied science and biology, which he hoped to read at York St John University.

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In a pen portrait of him, his mother said change made him anxious and he would go straight to bed after coming home from college if he was stressed.

Sam's college was aware he had autism and he was assigned a support worker, the inquest heard.

His mother 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.

His mother, a nurse, was sceptical about how the support worker found the Reddit posts, given Sam's account was not under his real name.

On 13 January, the college held 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.

Prior to the meeting, Sam told his mother he felt embarrassed and ashamed, she said.

He asked her if the Reddit posts made him seem "creepy and weird" and she reassured him they did not, saying they had been respectful.

After meeting Sam, the college vice principal Theresa Amarawansa rang his mother and said the teenager was "positive and fine".

His mother then missed a subsequent call from the college telling her Sam was missing from his psychology lesson as she was on shift at a hospital.

She tried to call back but was told staff were dealing with an emergency, although staff said it did not involve her son.

Later, police arrived at her home and told her Sam had died, the inquest heard.

Her "vulnerable" son would have felt "a rug had been pulled" when he was told about the change in support worker, the student's mother told the inquest.

She also said he was not found for three hours after the meeting, despite him being marked as absent from his lessons.

The inquest also heard 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.

Later, the inquest heard a statement from the support worker, Lauren Crosby, in which she said Sam emailed her on Christmas Day with a link to the Mariah Carey song All I Want For Christmas Is You.

She said on her return to college after the holiday break, it was agreed Sam might not have understood the implied meaning of the song, but there would be a gradual move to get him to work with another male support worker, with whom he had already formed a positive relationship.

Crosby said she subsequently found Sam's Reddit posts while she was browsing on the platform, but she did not know why they appeared on her feed.

She acted immediately and shared her concerns with members of the support team, the inquest heard.

Head of additional learning support Vicky Wilkinson said the Reddit posts had caused concern.

Asked about the potential harm to Sam in changing his support worker, she told the inquest: "The only alternative was to keep Lauren in place and that was not an option.

"The wording on the Reddit posts left us with significant concerns."

The inquest, which is expected to last three days, continues.

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