Boy killed himself after posting online about suicide

A 13-year-old boy killed himself after viewing and posting material about suicide online during lockdown, an inquest has heard.

Zaheid Ali jumped from Tower Bridge after getting off a bus early on the way to school on 20 April 2021.

His body was pulled from the River Thames near a pub in Wapping, east London, eight days later.

Inner South London Coroners Court heard his suicide note contained lyrics from a song about a girl who killed herself.

He had also followed someone in the US who had taken their own life, posted a "countdown" to his suicide on YouTube, and written on Twitter about his desire to kill himself, the hearing was told.

A WhatsApp exchange with school friends from March 2021, which was found after he died, revealed he said "I hate life at the moment and kind of want to give up", among similar messages.

His father Mumen Ali told the hearing he was "baffled" by what had happened to his son — who was born prematurely and suffered from a digestive disorder called internal malabsorption — as his behaviour had appeared normal.

Mr Ali said his son had become "glued to his phone" and "stuck in his bedroom" in the Easter holidays before he killed himself, but his parents did not think his behaviour was unusual.

Det Con Khadra Mallin from City of London Police told the inquest that officers were called after people heard someone calling for help in the Thames just after 8am on 20 April 2021.

One witness swam into the water but only Zaheid's school jacket and bag, which contained a suicide note, were found.

An "intensive" search by police on foot, helicopters and lifeboats began but his body was not found for eight days.

When police attended his school, a pupil said Zaheid had got on the bus at his normal stop in Canada Water but got off before arriving at the academy for the first day back after the Easter holidays.

Pathologist Dr Simi George recorded his provisional cause of death as immersion.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, assistant coroner Dr Julian Morris offered his "very sincere" and "deepest" condolences to the family.

"The age of 13 is too young for anybody," he added.

His father replied: "When he was born, I didn't think he was going to survive.

"The 13 years that he gave us, thank God for that."

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