A private school pupil killed himself with his father’s shotgun after a ‘perfect storm’ of GCSE stress, breaking up with his girlfriend and ADHD, 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 destress 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 in to the toilet but instead 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.
A guy killes themselves every 11minutes but as soon as a gun is involved that’s reason to write a whole article and push for restricting gun rights. This is a political agenda wrapped in an emotional sob story.
“One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic” - Joseph Stalin
I have thought about this more… Suicide is always terrible, and the fact that so many men seem to go through with it is something that deserves to be studid and focused on.
Of course women’s mental health is important, but I do understand that this seems to disproportionately impact men who have the highest… “clearance” rate for suicide, you could say.
Thanks.
America is doing so well with gun rights, i agree. Gun deaths need to be on the UK news more!
Not my point. Switzerland has more guns per capita than the us and fuck all deaths so it not people having guns that’s the problem its who has the guns. The UK has so many stabbings its insane everywhere else into the world has knives but it seems the people of the UK are the ones who have a problem with being violent.