LIVERPOOL - A talented teenager took his own life shortly after naked pictures of him were shared online, an inquest heard. Joel Crockett-Devine, 19, received a flurry of offensive messages including some urging him to ‘die’.
Three days before his death in April 2019, Joel asked his mum Ruth for money in an apparent effort to pay those tormenting him. Elaine Jordan, the coroner’s officer at his inquest in Liverpool, described how budding actor Joel was autistic, had Asperger’s Syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and Harlequin Syndrome.
The court heard that on the evening before his death, Joel had been out with his mum and friends and had seemed to be in ‘good spirits’. At 9.30pm, they returned to their home in Wavertree, Liverpool, where Joel went to his bedroom.
The coroner’s officer said this was not an unusual action as he was a ‘gamer’ and an ‘introvert’. At 3pm the following day, Joel had not emerged from his room so his mum went to check on him and tragically found him dead.(FA)