Welsh Man, 23, becomes 20th Bridgend suicide victim*

By Richard Savill
Last updated: 12:30 AM BST 08/05/2008

WALES - A father-to-be who was found hanged in a village near Bridgend
is believed to be the 20th young suicide victim in the area.

A father-to-be who was found hanged in a village near Bridgend is
believed to be the 20th young suicide victim in the area.

Christopher Jones, 23, was found by his father in the family’s garage at
11pm on Sunday night and he died the following day in hospital.

Mr Jones, known by his childhood nickname of Whiskers, worked with his
father in the family car repair business.

His girlfriend Rhian, who is seven months pregnant, was yesterday being
cared for by her family and was described as “devastated”.

His parents, Alun and Cheryl Jones, were at the family home yesterday.

“We are all heartbroken,” Mr Jones said. “He was only 23 years of age.
We are too grief stricken to say anything.”

A friend of the family said: “This is a terrible tragedy. Whiskers was a
lovely boy and his family are well known in the area.

”It is even worse because his girlfriend is due to have a baby in six
weeks time.”

The friend added: “We are mystified by it. He had a job with his dad and
his own car. We can only think that he might have been worried about the
responsibility of becoming a father.

”His parents are kind people and they are devastated. This is a valley
and everyone knows each other’s business. It is close knit. If one of us
grieves, we all grieve.”

Mr Jones is the third young person to have been found hanged in the
village of Nantymoel.

The two others were Angeline Fuller, 18, and Andrew O’Neill, 19, who
died three and eight months ago respectively.

He is the 20th person under 27 to be found hanged in the Bridgend area
since the start of last year. The previous was Sean Rees, 19, a
Sainsbury’s worker, who died two weeks ago.

Following the latest death, Madeleine Moon, the Labour MP for Bridgend,
said: “This is another very tragic loss of life for this young man whose
whole future has gone, and for his family.

”We have a particular need locally for additional services to deal with
the problems of young people and a desperate need for more funding.

”The local services are on their knees trying to cope with the volume of
referrals of people with mental health issues.”

She said she would be writing to the Welsh Assembly Health Minister
Edwina Hart urging more funding to be siphoned to the local health trust
and health board.

Police said Mr Jones’s death did not appear to be linked to other
“sudden deaths” in the Bridgend area.

An inquest into Mr Jones’s death is due to be opened Friday by the
Bridgend coroner Phillip Walters.