Hanging death believed to be 22nd suicide victim in Bridgend

ANOTHER young person has died in a county blighted by apparent suicides, police confirmed yesterday.

South Wales Police said they were investigating the sudden death of a 28-year-old man from the Bettws area of Bridgend.

Twenty-one young people in or from Bridgend are believed to have killed themselves since the beginning of 2007.

The latest death is the third in the Bettws area since April.

A force spokeswoman said: “South Wales Police can confirm the sudden death of a 28-year-old man in the Bettws area of Bridgend at around 7.45pm on Monday.

“There are no suspicious circumstances and an investigation is being carried out on behalf of the coroner.”

She said the death was not being linked to other recent deaths in the area.

Neil Owen, 26, from Bettws, was the 21st young person to be found hanging, on June 6. Mr Owen had been a close friend of 19-year-old Sean Rees, from the area, who was found hanging from a tree in April.

An inquest into Mr Owen’s death heard he had been about to go on a trip when he went missing. His car was found parked on an industrial estate near a wooded area and his father discovered his body hanging nearby.

Mr Owen was believed to have been upset by the recent deaths, and wrote a message to Mr Rees on social networking site Bebo which read: “RIP Sean going to miss you so much fella you and me were like brothers it feels like there is a part of me missing now xxx.”

The police spokeswoman said: “We would also appeal to the media to give the local community of Bettws time and space to grieve.”

South Wales Police would not confirm reports that the death was the result of hanging.

News of the latest death came as Mr Owen’s funeral was taking place in Bettws.

The community was at a standstill as mourners tried to come to terms with the latest tragedies.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said she thought the man’s body was discovered by a young girl on the hill behind the Oddfellows pub in Bettws.