Heartbroken mother Henrieta Van Hennik tells Winchester Coroners’ Court her son Jack was ‘bullied’ into taking his own life at Buckland Rings in Lymington

A HEARTBROKEN mother sobbed as she told a coroner she believed her teenage son had been bullied into taking his own life.

Henrieta Van Hennik revealed that she had written out a timeline of son Jack’s last years before he died to help her understand why he had done what he did.

She wept continuously as she referred to it, saying: “He was a happy boy.” She added: “Everyday I would hug and kiss him and tell him, ‘I love you Jack’.”

An inquest at Winchester Coroners’ Court heard how Jack (17), from Little Orchard Farm, Lymington, had been found hanged on 19th September 2024 at Buckland Rings in the town.

His parents said he had shown no intention of taking his life but after his death it was found that in the early hours of that morning he had posted a photo of a noose on Instagram with the message “I am a sick human being” and that “he no longer deserved to live because of it”.

Jack, a student at Brockenhurst College, sent a screenshot of the post to a friend Reilly Hiscock at 1.57am with the message “I’ll catch you hanging around.”

In a statement Mr Hiscock said that Jack, who he had known since school, had “agreed to be his boyfriend” but there was nothing “sexual, or intimate between them”.

He said when he woke and saw the message he immediately tried to contact Jack but got no reply. A countryside ranger found Jack’s body around 10.30am that morning.

In a statement best friend Dylan Jones said Jack – described by his parents as “bright and smart” – had been “cheerful and bubbly” before his death and that the post was “completely out of character”.

The inquest heard that Jack had been physically attacked as a pupil at Priestlands School after which a note was found in his pencil case in which he talked about suicide.

Dylan said he had been aware of the school bullying but said Jack was not subject to it at Brock where he was studying computer science and product design.

But Jack’s mother said she believed he had been saying that her son had become frightened of travelling to college by bus when the new term started that September.

She said during the previous term he had come home “sad” saying that someone saved him a seat on the bus. He then became angry shouting “No not from him!” before storming into his bedroom.

Ms Hennik said that Jack had refused to buy an annual bus ticket for the new term and had insisted on his parents sometimes taking him to and from college.

She said: “He was scared. Afraid of meeting someone on the bus.”

The mum said during the summer holidays she had heard Jack shouting to someone on his phone “Leave me alone, I’m not a gay!”

She said the teenager had changed his mobile phone number two to three weeks before he died, adding: “He didn’t want to be phoned by someone.”

The mum said she believed “someone” had been trying to make Jack “feel bad about himself” and had told him “you don’t need to be friends with people like that”.

Ms Hennik also said that Jack had become worried about her selling strawberries on Lymington Quay over the summer.

She said he kept asking her “Are you okay mum, has anyone hurt you?” when she came home, adding: “He looked scared.”

The mum said she believed someone had told Jack that they were going to “hurt me”.

Dad Alan told the coroner his son “had lots of secrets, I think”, adding: “He gave the impression that there was something on his mind. He wouldn’t tell you really what was on his mind. He didn’t want to give us problems.”

For three days before his death Jack had refused to go to college but his dad said he thought that was just “laziness”.

The night before Jack died his younger brother had told him to stop talking to people on his computer and go to sleep. When he woke he found Jack was gone.

Ms Hennik said she then realised a length of rope from the kitchen was missing and had told her husband they “must find Jack quick”.

Showing coroner Jason Pegg photos of her son Ms Hennik broke down, saying: “Who would want to kill a child who was a little bit vulnerable?”

Mr Pegg said there was no evidence to show Jack, who he said had a “bright future ahead of him”, was being bullied around the time of his death.

Bringing in a verdict of suicide he told his parents: “As to why he did it that is only something that Jack knows. Both of you must be struggling to understand why he did what he did.”

• The Samaritans can be contacted on 116123 or at www.samaritans.org