Man was depressed after the death of his friend

Mar 20 2008 by Lisa Jones, South Wales Echo

ONE of 17 young people thought to have killed themselves in the same community was plagued by the death of his best friend, an inquest heard.

Leigh Jenkins, 23, was found hanging four weeks after Allyn Price, who lived in the same street, died the same way.

The friends are two of 17 young people from the Bridgend area to have been found hanging in just over a year.

The inquest into their deaths was one of five held by the county coroner Philip Walters yesterday.

Mr Walters ruled out a link between the deaths in the borough, but said a national strategy should be developed to combat suicides.

He said: “I have to look at each of these individually and that is how I propose to deal with it.

“The only thing that I am happy to be placed on record as saying is that I hope these events in Bridgend, if they have done anything, have been the catalyst to give us a national strategy covering the whole of Wales for young deaths.”

The court heard Leigh Jenkins had become upset while talking about the death of his friend Allyn Price, 25, on April 6.

Mr Jenkins and Mr Price, both from Salisbury Road, Maesteg, had been friends from the age of 12 and lived four doors from one another.

In a statement to the inquest, Mr Jenkins’ mother Beverly said he had seen his friend’s dead body, which had given him nightmares.

She said: “He was unable to sleep and had to keep the light on at night. He was depressed to the point where he just wanted to be with him. It was all he could think about.”

The court heard Mr Jenkins visited his friend’s grave daily.

The inquest heard a statement made by Ryan Price, who said Mr Jenkins had been drinking vodka at his flat and had fallen asleep at a computer, after crying over his friend, Allyn Price.

“He became very emotional and started crying,” he said.

The court heard Ryan Price left Mr Jenkins to sleep while he visited a nearby friend’s flat. When he returned, Mr Jenkins had gone.

Before going to bed, he went over to his bedroom window to call his cat and saw Mr Jenkins’ face on the other side.

“I saw there was something coming from the top of my window and it was on Leigh’s neck,” said Mr Price.

“I put my hand out of the window and felt Leigh’s face and it felt cold.”

Pathologist Dr Alan Rees told the inquest Mr Jenkins had three times the drink-drive limit of alcohol in his body as well as amphetamines.

The cause of death was given as asphyxia due to hanging.

The also court heard about “happy-go-lucky” Allyn Price, who was found hanging in the family garage by his father Gwynfor.

In a statement read to the court, girlfriend Alisha Austin said he had become short tempered and started mixing with a crowd she didn’t approve of.

He phoned her on the day he died, saying: “I have got nothing to live for.”

Allyn Price had traces of amphetamine, MDMA, cocaine and morphine in his body, the court heard.

The coroner recorded a narrative verdict, saying Mr Price killed himself while under the influence of drugs. The cause of death was asphyxia.

lisa.jones@mediawales.co.uk