Irish teens die in triple suicide pact
Pastor Dale Morgan
Irish Teens die in triple suicide pact*
By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:02am BST 19/06/2007
Three teenagers from the same secondary school have killed themselves
within the past month amid rumours that they arranged a suicide pact.
Pupils at Craigavon Senior High School, Co Armagh, told psychologists
that 12 boys were involved in the pact, which had been influenced by
suicide websites and chatrooms.
Youngsters were offered counselling at the 800-pupil school yesterday as
the most recent victim, Lee Walker, 15, was laid to rest after killing
himself on Friday night.
He died in Tandragee, Co Armagh, only five days after the body of his
friend, James Topley, 15, was discovered in the nearby village of
Laurelvale. The body of another classmate, Wayne Browne, 15, had been
found at the same spot three weeks earlier.
All three were understood to have hanged themselves.
Yesterday clergymen and education officials were anxious to play down
theories of a pact.
Arthur Cassidy, a psychologist who has been helping pupils at Craigavon,
said some used the phrase suicide pact in conversations with him but
"there is no evidence for it".
"These are the terms the young people are using," he said, "but I think
they misunderstand the idea of a suicide pact. They think that something
has been seen on the internet. It is absolutely frightening to the
people trying to put this into perspective."
The Rev Brian Harper, the rector of Mullavilly Parish Church in
Laurelvale, said the community "has gone into hysteria".
"Parents have been told that their children are dead. Children are
receiving text messages that their best friends are dead. There hasn't
been a single bit of truth to any of the rumours," he said.
The hoax death reports have added to the anxiety of children, teachers
and parents.
Yesterday, Dorothy Browne, the mother of Wayne, made an emotional plea
to pupils.
"If you know what's going on, at least tell somebody," she said. "It
might save another life. This is breaking our hearts."
She described her son as a happy, outgoing person with plenty of
friends. "He was not depressed. I can't believe that Wayne has done this
at all."
One education official described the rumour mill as "scary stuff".
"It is very disturbing for the families and there are all sorts of
rumours that someone will be next," he said. "We don't want these
rumours to turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy."
The last two victims were both believed to have attended Wayne's
funeral. Lee was among mourners when James was laid to rest.
Lee also lived close to Stuart Fletcher, a 28-year-old who hanged
himself in Laurelvale last month.
Northern Ireland has one of the highest suicide rates in Europe. Last
year, 291 people killed themselves in the province, an increase of 37
per cent on the previous year.
The boys' deaths came only days after it emerged that police were
investigating the possibility that two young men died in a suicide pact
in a remote part of Ulster. It is thought that Barry McGlade, 20, from
Omagh, and Nicholas Jamieson, 24, from Dublin, drowned themselves using
heavy backpacks at Gortin lakes, Co Tyrone, after drawing up their plans
through an internet chatroom.