Public schoolboy killed himself with father's gun amid GCSE stress

Telegraph

11 hours ago

A public schoolboy killed himself with his father's shotgun after GCSE stress and breaking up with his girlfriend, an inquest heard.
Jairus Earl was found by his father Philip in his office at their Dorset holiday home as they prepared to return to London for the 15-year-old to start his exams.
The family had gone to their cottage near Sherborne for the Easter holidays to de-stress and took some shotguns with them for clay pigeon shooting.
The inquest heard Jairus, who was feeling anxious and negative about his GCSEs, spent the mornings revising and did shooting and fly fishing with his father in the afternoons.
But as they packed up the car to return home, Jairus told his father he was going to the toilet but instead he went into the office where his father had his shotguns in cases.
Mr Earl, a director of a construction company, was listening to music and so did not hear the gunshot but knew something was wrong when the family dog came out and 'looked very stressed'.
Mr Earl, 56, went inside and found his son unresponsive in the office at about 3.45pm on April 14, 2024.
Jairus was pronounced dead at the scene at 4pm.
At his inquest, the Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin raised concerns about possible gaps in gun licence laws that she will be making a prevention of future deaths report about to the government.
While she recognised that Mr Earl was a responsible gun licence holder, she said there may be an issue about people keeping guns in second homes without the authorities knowing.
She said there was also a concern about the lack of consideration for the mental health of other people in the same household as a licence holder.
Jairus had been falling behind at school
The Bournemouth inquest heard Jairus was 'very social and loved to have fun' but struggled with school and had been falling behind.
He attended the £30,000-a-year Thames Christian School in Clapham, south London.
He had been diagnosed with ADHD at 14 and was experiencing low mood and suicidal ideation but was seeing both a psychologist and a child psychiatrist in the months leading up to his death, and his mood seemed to be improving.
The family said Jairus had been affected by the Covid lockdowns, the first of which came when he was just two terms into secondary school and was 'extremely detrimental'.
The Bournemouth inquest heard that Mr Earl's wife Sophie and daughter Lily had already returned to London by early April while he and Jairus stayed in Dorset for longer.
Reading a pen portrait from the family, Mrs Griffin said: 'Jairus really loved larking about. He had a great sense of humour and was always keen to make people laugh. He was very social and loved to have fun.
'In Dorset he had a passion for the countryside - fishing and clay pigeon shooting - it was a place where he became really alive, away from the huge stress of exams and pressures of life.
'His mental health grew worse over time. His parents tried to get as much help as possible.
'We love Jairus more than words can say and his death has left an extraordinarily painful void in our lives.'
Mr Earl said in a statement: 'In recent years things had become more stressful. He felt very negative about school, homework and exams.
'He was facing GCSEs, which was overwhelming for him. He had concerns that he had been behind but wouldn't consider the possibility of repeating the year.'
Ms Griffin recorded a verdict of suicide.