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Talented student is found hanged after taking LSD
The Times
Simon de Bruxelles
3 February 2007
An exceptional student who dropped out of school when he began experimenting with drugs has been found hanged after taking LSD at a friend’s birthday party.
Matthew White, 18, was academically gifted as well as being an excellent musician, actor and artist. He had been head boy of his Roman Catholic secondary school in Cardiff, but gave up his A-Level course after leaving to study at a sixth-form college.
He had been living in a homemade tent in woodland when he tried the drug for the first time. Friends have told his family that he suffered a bad reaction and tried to hurt himself. He was persuaded to go back to bed but the next morning was found hanged from a tree. Police said yesterday that the death was not being treated as suspicious and that no one else was suspected of being involved.
His family believes that his life began to disintegrate when he started smoking cannabis and socialising with the “wrong crowd”. He was 6ft 4in and described as a “towering presence” at St Illtyd’s Roman Catholic High School, which he left in June 2005.
His mother, Colette White, said: “People saw him as a big friendly giant and he had such warm, beautiful blue eyes. He had so many talents. He could play guitar, banjo and mandolin, all kinds of instruments. He even wrote his own music.”
Matthew was head boy when he passed ten GCSEs, most with A and A* grades. After he left the school to go to a sixth-form college his parents noticed a big change. He admitted smoking cannabis and moved out to live in a homemade shelter known as a bender in Leckwith Woods, a few miles from Cardiff.
His last visit home was shortly before his death. Mrs White said: “He came home last week and spent the day with us, having a meal and going to the cinema with his brother. I was so happy to see him, it is where he belonged, but the next morning he went with his friends and we never saw him again.”
Matthew celebrated a friend’s birthday in the woods and cannabis and LSD were available. His brother, Martin, 16, said: “We found out he had taken two LSD tablets and he had a bad reaction to them. The people who were with him told us he went off into the woods and they could hear howling. They went to look and found him with a rope tied round his neck. He was about to jump into a river.
“They ran to cut the rope and calmed him down and called an ambulance, but he had not suffered any injuries. He said he was OK.”
The group went back to the tent and fell asleep but the next morning Matthew’s bed was empty. They searched the woods and found him hanged from a tree.
The funeral will be held at St Cadoc’s Church in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Mike Worthington, headmaster at St Illtyd’s, said: “Everyone who knew him is devastated by what has happened. His parents can be justifiably proud of the work he did in school and I was proud to have him as head boy.
“He was a wonderful boy, quiet, hard-working and considerate. He was chosen because of his integrity, his ability to lead and the respect he enjoyed from his fellow students.
“It was remarkable that at 16 he could speak so eloquently at public functions. His death has numbed us all and knocked us for six. He became involved in a particular way of life but we all hoped he would come out of it and return to his usual self but it was not to be.
“Youngsters often try drugs with the view that if they don’t like it they can always pull back, but it is not that easy.”
The Cardiff coroner opened and ajourned an inquest pending police inquiries.
Link
The Times
Simon de Bruxelles
3 February 2007
- Former head boy was college drop-out
- Friends found his body in woodland
An exceptional student who dropped out of school when he began experimenting with drugs has been found hanged after taking LSD at a friend’s birthday party.
Matthew White, 18, was academically gifted as well as being an excellent musician, actor and artist. He had been head boy of his Roman Catholic secondary school in Cardiff, but gave up his A-Level course after leaving to study at a sixth-form college.
He had been living in a homemade tent in woodland when he tried the drug for the first time. Friends have told his family that he suffered a bad reaction and tried to hurt himself. He was persuaded to go back to bed but the next morning was found hanged from a tree. Police said yesterday that the death was not being treated as suspicious and that no one else was suspected of being involved.
His family believes that his life began to disintegrate when he started smoking cannabis and socialising with the “wrong crowd”. He was 6ft 4in and described as a “towering presence” at St Illtyd’s Roman Catholic High School, which he left in June 2005.
His mother, Colette White, said: “People saw him as a big friendly giant and he had such warm, beautiful blue eyes. He had so many talents. He could play guitar, banjo and mandolin, all kinds of instruments. He even wrote his own music.”
Matthew was head boy when he passed ten GCSEs, most with A and A* grades. After he left the school to go to a sixth-form college his parents noticed a big change. He admitted smoking cannabis and moved out to live in a homemade shelter known as a bender in Leckwith Woods, a few miles from Cardiff.
His last visit home was shortly before his death. Mrs White said: “He came home last week and spent the day with us, having a meal and going to the cinema with his brother. I was so happy to see him, it is where he belonged, but the next morning he went with his friends and we never saw him again.”
Matthew celebrated a friend’s birthday in the woods and cannabis and LSD were available. His brother, Martin, 16, said: “We found out he had taken two LSD tablets and he had a bad reaction to them. The people who were with him told us he went off into the woods and they could hear howling. They went to look and found him with a rope tied round his neck. He was about to jump into a river.
“They ran to cut the rope and calmed him down and called an ambulance, but he had not suffered any injuries. He said he was OK.”
The group went back to the tent and fell asleep but the next morning Matthew’s bed was empty. They searched the woods and found him hanged from a tree.
The funeral will be held at St Cadoc’s Church in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Mike Worthington, headmaster at St Illtyd’s, said: “Everyone who knew him is devastated by what has happened. His parents can be justifiably proud of the work he did in school and I was proud to have him as head boy.
“He was a wonderful boy, quiet, hard-working and considerate. He was chosen because of his integrity, his ability to lead and the respect he enjoyed from his fellow students.
“It was remarkable that at 16 he could speak so eloquently at public functions. His death has numbed us all and knocked us for six. He became involved in a particular way of life but we all hoped he would come out of it and return to his usual self but it was not to be.
“Youngsters often try drugs with the view that if they don’t like it they can always pull back, but it is not that easy.”
The Cardiff coroner opened and ajourned an inquest pending police inquiries.
Link
