Cruel mob goad suicide teenager Shaun Dykes into 60ft death leap
By Rod Chaytor 1/10/2008
Shaun Dykes, 17 (Pic:Raymond Press Agency)
Shaun Dykes, 17 (Pic:Raymond Press Agency)
A tormented teenager plunged 60ft to his death from a multi-storey car park after a callous crowd of onlookers cruelly urged him to jump.
Police and community leaders yesterday condemned the “horrifying” behaviour of the jeering mob as Shaun Dykes, 17, hovered on the brink of suicide.
Trained negotiators spent three hours patiently trying to coax him down as he threatened to leap.
Meanwhile, several hundred people gathered outside the busy Westfield centre in Derby – with “a small but significant minority” egging him on.
Sickeningly, some yelled: “Go on, jump,” and “How far can you bounce?”
Supt Andy Hough admitted he was shocked by some of the comments hurled at the teenager on Saturday.
Advertisement - article continues below »
Click here to find out more!
He said: “They were shouting for him to jump. I find it a disturbing reflection on society when people feel inclined to do that. It’s very disappointing.” Shaun, of Kilburn, near Derby, is believed to have been suffering from depression and is thought to have recently had a relationship breakdown. Yesterday his distraught parents were too upset to comment.
His headteacher Rob Howard said: “One or two students were standing near people goading him to jump.
“One student told me he could not believe people place such little value on life. It’s almost like they are in a television show. The sad thing is that a couple of the students, if they could have got close enough, felt that they could have made a difference.”
The Bishop of Derby, the Rt Rev Dr Alastair Redfern, added: “I’m horrified. I hope these people feel deeply ashamed. Here was a very troubled person crying out for help.”
Yesterday flowers and tributes were laid at the scene by friends of the former John Flamsteed school pupil, who was studying at the city’s Heanor Gate science college.
Lindsey Reid, 17, Shaun’s best friend since he was four, said: “He was the joker, always smiling. He’s not the sort of person you’d expect to do this.”
