Austistic teen who came out as gay at age 12 killed himself after being 'relentlessly' bullied by other students
An inquest has heard how a teenager ended his life after being "relentlessly" bullied at school for being gay.
On September 4, 2019, 16-year-old Cameron Warwick did not turn up in college. The Fareham, Hampshire native was later found dead in Fort Fareham Woods, Mirror reports. The teenager had come out as homosexual at the age of 12, which led to him being bullied at school, his mother said.
Kerry Warwick, 38, told the court how her son -- who had autism and struggled with depression -- resorted to self-harm after his classmates often threw food at him during lunch breaks. The devastated mother recalled how other pupils would bully him in the school corridors and call him names like "autistic f***."
"Cameron had this background of autism - which resulted in bullying at times," Coroner Jason Pegg said, recording a verdict of suicide at Portsmouth Coroner's Court. "Not only did he take his own life, he intended to do so."
Cameron's deterioration was witnessed by his online friend Christopher Robertson, 18, in the days leading up to his death, the inquest heard. "I believe Cameron was relentlessly bullied at school by other students for coming out as gay," Christopher told the hearing in a statement.
Meanwhile, another schoolfriend of Cameron said he would "always talk to us" about his problems. "One boy at school told him he was ugly," Bill Ashcroft, 16, recalled. "He didn't keep his mental health a secret, if something was wrong he would always talk to us about it."
Cameron wanted to enroll on a gaming course in at college, but had failed to get the required GCSE grades for it after being overwhelmed by exam stress. So he went on to study Computer Design instead. According to his mother, Cameron had just missed out on the Grade 4 result in Maths to qualify for the gaming course.
"Over the rest of the school holiday, his mood didn't really improve," Warwick told the hearing. "I tried to comfort him because he did get six GCSEs at grade 4 and above, but he could only see the Maths grade."
Cameron failed to turn up for classes on September 4, just days after starting at Fareham College. He was later found hanging in Fort Fareham Woods, located near the town. Warwick, a housing association welfare officer, told reporters after the hearing that her son's fellow pupils at Fareham Academy had bullied him for years over his homosexuality.
"They would bully him and isolate him," she recalled. "They would throw things like food at him, trip him up in the corridor, and call him horrible names like ''autistic f***''.' The bullies would prey on the fact he was gay. He was ostracised, with pupils refusing to sit with him and calling him names."
"By Year 10, he had resigned himself to the bullying," Warwick added.
The heartbroken mother said Cameron was a talented artist but his pieces sometimes depicted suicide. According to her, he had made a previous attempt to commit suicide in 2017 and would often self-harm. Kerry and Alan Warwick, an embroidery machine engineer, paid tribute to their beloved son in a statement. "Cameron was a much-loved, gentle and kind young man," the devastated parents said. "His illnesses made it impossible for him to continue to live in a world which he did not understand, and one which made little effort to understand him."
"We miss him with all of our hearts, and would urge others to be compassionate to other people's vulnerabilities, or to share their own and seek help to avoid other such tragedies," they added.