Mother slams media coverage of Bridgend suicides

LONDON - The mother of a 15-year-old boy who killed himself in Bridgend, south Wales, has accused the media of glamorising suicide and putting 'an idea into his head'.

Nathaniel Pritchard was the youngest victim of the so-called "Bridgend suicides", a series of youth deaths that has claimed the lives of 17 young people in the south Wales town.

Pritchard died in hospital last week after he was found harming himself at home. His cousin, Kelly Stephenson, hanged herself just hours later.

In a press conference yesterday, Nathaniel's mother Sharon said the media reporting of the spate of suicides had made "an incredibly difficult time even more unbearable".

She told reporters the intense media coverage had been "extremely intrusive" and warned that the press handling of the story could prompt other vulnerable teenagers in the town to try taking their own lives.

She said: "We feel like the media coverage of recent suicides put an idea into Nathaniel's head.

"We feel he was influenced by the media coverage which glamorised ways of taking your life."

Her comments came as another teenager was confirmed dead. The body of 16-year-old Jenna Parry was discovered yesterday by a dog-walker. Her death brings the number of young people to have committed suicide in the south Wales in the past 13 months to 17.

The story of Parry's death made the splash of today's Sun, Mirror, Mail and Times. The Sun also devoted a double-page spread to the story, describing Bridgend in its headline as a place where "the shadow of death stalks the young".

A spokesman for the Press Complaints Commission said it had received "one or two" complaints about press coverage of the suicides, but none had come from people closely connected with the deaths.

"We've not received any complaints from relatives or friends of the young people or from the police," he said.

"We are keen to make people aware of our services. We've made initial contact by email with the police in south Wales."

The spokesman said the PCC would be happy to hear from any of the teenagers' friends or relatives if they wished to come forward and lodge a complaint.

Local police have begun an urgent investigation into the rising death toll, but senior figures in the force are understood to have ruled out a suicide pact or any claims that social networking sites acted as an influence.

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content