Boy, 11, found hanging

AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy was found hanging from a bunk bed by his 10-year-old sister.

He had told her he wanted to die, but she thought he was just “messing”, an inquest has heard.

Joseph Oguntuase of Hazelgrove Court, Tallaght, Dublin, was found hanging by a silk scarf by his sister Joy Elizabeth on June 21, 2007, Dublin County Coroner’s Court heard yesterday.

The children, including their three-year-old sister Sarah and a friend of Joy’s, Lerato, aged 10, were alone in the apartment.

Their mother, Lucky Oguntuase had left the apartment at 6pm to visit a friend and to do some shopping.

She received a call from Joy at 7pm saying Joseph had taken a scarf and put it around his neck, that his eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.

Ms Oguntuase contacted the emergency services and neighbours who went to the apartment.

In a statement to gardaí read out in court, Joy Oguntuase said she, Lerato and Joseph had been in the bedroom and they were messing.

Joseph had a red scarf and he kept putting it around his neck, but when the two friends left the bedroom he was ok.

When they returned a short time later they found him with the silk scarf tied around the top bunk and wrapped around his neck.

“He was standing up straight and his eyes were half closed,” she said.

At her mother’s instruction Joy used a knife to cut the scarf off her brother’s neck and the two 10-year-olds then brought him to the bathroom and put him in the bath to wash sick from around his mouth.

The Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded an open verdict.