Autistic student's mother tells inquest college failed duty of care

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 16:02 · Archive

An 18-year-old autistic student took his own life at his Darlington sixth form college in January after a meeting about social media posts expressing a crush on his support worker.

Sam Coutts, an 18-year-old high-functioning autistic student, was found dead in the toilets 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 a crush on his support worker. Following this meeting, which he was permitted to leave alone, CCTV footage showed Sam went directly to the toilets. His body was discovered three hours later by the college principal.

At the inquest in Crook, County Durham, Sam's mother Kirsten told the coroner: 'The college did not care appropriately and acceptably for my son. They failed completely in their duty of care.' The inquest heard that Sam had previously been bullied at secondary school and tried hard to mask his autism, not wishing to be treated differently. He was studying A-levels in psychology, applied science and biology, with aspirations to study at York St John University.

Ms Coutts described how change made Sam anxious, and that he would go straight to bed after returning from college if stressed. The college was aware of his autism and had assigned him a support worker. His mother said she was contacted by the college after the support worker apparently discovered the Reddit posts on which he had expressed his feelings.

How it is being reported

• Mum of autistic student found dead in sixth form college toilets tells coroner organisation failed himTeenager Sam Coutts was found dead at Darlington's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in JanuaryTeessideLive · 19 Oct, 15:37
• College failed autistic son, mother tells inquestSam Coutts' mother tells his inquest the college did not care appropriately for her son.BBC Tees · 19 Oct, 15:05

In this story: Sam Coutts · Kirsten Coutts · Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College · Darlington · York St John University

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