18-year-old boy found hanged after his mother asks him to start paying rent

18-year-old Elliot Stapleton-Giddins has left
everyone confused after he was found hanging in
his bedroom at his home in Stony Stratford,
Milton Keynes, England.
The teenager, who worked as a chef for a
Masterchef: The Professionals finalist, was
reportedly very hard working, had a lovely
girlfriend, Lily Avril and £2,500 in his account. He
also did not give signs of suffering a mental
illness so this is quite confusing for everyone,
including the coroner who could not arrive at a
conclusive verdict.
The only incident was likely to have triggered his
action was a text message he and his mother
exchanged before he was found hanging. His
mother informed him via text message that he
was to start paying rent of £200 a month. She
said she did this to teach him how to be
responsible.
His girlfriend, Lily, was having a text conversation
with him until 2 a.m. the day he died and she
revealed that he was upset about his mother's
text message. Ms Stapleton-Giddins, Elliot's
mother, lamented her son's death and revealed
that she made a mistake passing her message
across via text message.
She said:
"I was totally shocked. I shouldn’t have
texted him, I should have spoken to him
in person but I don’t think that was the
reason."
As the search for the motive for Elliot's
death continued, Elliot’s step-father, Mr
Stapleton, told the coroner that Elliot had
had problems with bullying in the past at
St Paul’s Catholic School which he
attended.
"I think he was bullied and I remember
him saying to me that the situation had
changed and that he was now the bully to
some people and he had felt very bad
about that," he said.

The coroner, Elizabeth Gray recorded an open
verdict due to lack of evidence.
She said:
‘It doesn’t seem to me that there was
anything of any significance from what
you’ve told me.
We all know about the text but there’s
nothing to suggest it was of any great
significance.
"Because of all that evidence and nothing
significant, in order for me to find that
Elliot took his own life I would have to find
he intended to do so beyond all
reasonable doubt – but from what I have
heard I don’t have that evidence.
"We have a series of small incidents over
time and a family reporting that generally
Elliot was on an even keel. He was a
sensitive person but nothing to suggest
that this was intended on October 2.
"The conclusion that I will draw therefore
is an open conclusion. We don’t have
evidence either way that Elliot intended to
take his own life."