Net plague, copycat or simple tragedy?

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.

Her tragic hanging death on January 17 this year came after six other hanging suicides by young men in the town in the previous year.

Until then, Bridgend (known as Pen y Bont to Welsh speakers) was renowned mainly for its Ford Engine plant and as the place where the beautiful Welsh hymn Calon Lan was written.