A TRAGIC BOY SCOUT’S ‘FIRST AND ONLY’ EXPERIMENT W

A TRAGIC BOY SCOUT’S ‘FIRST AND ONLY’ EXPERIMENT WITH

SNIFFING DEADLY LIGHTER FUEL COST HIM HIS LIFE, AN INQEST HEARD TODAY

(WED).

SCHOOLBOY ROGER STONE, 14, WAS FOUND SLUMPED ON HIS BED WITH

A PLASTIC BAG OVER HIS HEAD BY HIS DISTRAUGHT MOTHER LAST DECEMBER.

‘THIS BRINGS HOME THE TERRIBLE DANGER OF YOUNGSTERS

EXPERIMENTING AND ABUSING THESE SOLVENTS,’ SAID SOUTHWARK CORONER

SIR MONTAGUE LEVINE.

‘THEY CAN KILL INSTATNLY AND ALL PARENTS SHOULD BE ON

THEIR GUARD,’ HE ADDED.

THE INQUEST HEARD ROGER, ‘A QUIET LAD’ WHO SPENT HIS TIME
FISHING AND GOING TO THE CINEMA, HAD NEVER DABBLED WITH ANY TYPE

OF GLUE OR SOLVENT BEFORE.

ROGER’S MOTHER, MRS MARGARET STONE, 37, A CLERK, DESCRIBED THE

HORRIFIC SIGHT THAT CONFRONTED HER WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME AT

LUNCHTIME ON DECEMBER 1 LAST YEAR.

‘ROGER’S DOOR WAS LOCKED SO I CALLED OUT TO HIM, BUT HE

DIDN’T ANSWER SO I PUSHED AGAINST IT AND THE LOCK FLUNG OFF.

‘HE WAS LYING ON THE BED.

I THOUGHT HE WAS ASLEEP, THEN I

SAW THE PLASTIC BAG ON HIS FACE AND RIPPED IT OFF.

HIS LIPS WERE

BLUE.

‘
MRS STONE DESCRIBED HOW SHE DESPERATELY TRIED TO REVIVE

HER YOUNGEST SON WITH THE KISS OF LIFE – TO NO AVAIL.

SHE WAS LATER FOUND SOBBING AND SCREAMING FOR HELP IN

THE STREET OUTSIDE THE FAMILY HOME IN CARISBROOKE GARDENS, PECKHAM,

SOUTH EAST LONDON.

WHEN POLICE ARRIVED AT THE SCENE THEY FOUND THE PLASTIC BAG

TORN OFF BY ROGER’S FRANTIC MOTHER HAD BEEN SECURED BY HIS SCHOOL

TIE.

LYING NEXT TO HIS HAND WAS THE CAN OF BUTANE GAS THAT KILLED

HIM.

.

POLICE SERGEANT ROBIN MERRETT, WHO SPOKE TO THE BOY’S

SCHOOL CHUMS, TEACHERS AND SCOUT MASTER, SAID: ‘AS FAR AS WE ARE

CONCERNED THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME ROGER HAD EVER TRIED ANYTHING LIKE

THIS.

HE HAD NOT BEEN DOING IT BEFORE, OUR INQUIRIES SHOWED.

‘
AND MRS STONE CONFIRMED THE ONLY DRUGS HER SON EVER TOOK

WERE SIMPLE HEADACHE TABLETS.

SHE HAD ALSO RECENTLY CLEANED OUT
HIS ROOM AND FOUND NOTHING SUSPICIOUS.

PATHOLOGIST DR PHILIP SEM (CORR) SAID THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS

SOLVENT ABUSE, BUT ADDED THERE WERE NO SIGNS IN ROGER’S BODY THAT

HE HAD BEEN ABUSING SOLVENTS REGULARLY.

SNIFFING BUTANE GAS KILLS EITHER BY ASPHYXIA, RESPIRATORY
FAILURE OR A SUDDEN MASSIVE HEART ATTACK, CONTINUED THE PATHOLOGIST.

RECORDING A VERDICT OF DEATH BY MISADVENTURE, SIR MONTAGUE
SAID: ‘THIS IS A VERY, VERY SAD CASE.

THERE IS EVERY REASON TO

BELIEVE THIS WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME THIS BOY HAD EXPERIMENTED
WITH SOLVENTS.

THAT IS THE TRAGEDY OF IT ALL.

‘WE WILL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW WHETHER THIS BOY READ OR

HEARD ABOUT THIS OR POSSIBLY SAW ANOTHER PERSON DOING IT.

HE TRIED

IT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND MADE A DREADFUL MISTAKE.

‘

ENDS.