ONE of 17 young people thought to have killed themselves in the same community in south Wales was plagued by the death of his best friend, an inquest heard yesterday.

THE suicide of Natasha Randall, an apparently happy 17-year-old, dragged the south Wales market town of Bridgend reluctantly into the global media spotlight.

There are no links between the deaths of 14 young people who have been found hanged around one town in just over a year, the local coroner said today.

AN estimated 12,000 people flocked to The Beaches in Bantry for the annual agricultural show last Sunday.