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Personal Snapshot

One 14-year-old boy was discovered deceased only a few days after being falsely accused of stealing the cremated remains of a deceased baby during a burglary, an inquest has heard.

Heartbreaking Finding

The young boy's parents found his remains in his bedroom at his Flintshire home on November 19th, 2021.

Untrue Allegations Start

The inquest learned how his parent received a communication on November 8th, 2021 via social media, from a woman asking if Kai was her child. The communication added: "Tell him appreciation for burgling my apartment."

In a statement read to the proceedings, Lisa Lloyd said the woman had been in the news, asserting her baby's remains had been taken in a burglary - a claim which was false.

Law Enforcement Investigation

An investigation report from authorities later concluded the supposed burglary complainant had "lied to police" and "evidence shows that said property was not taken in the beginning".

News coverage about the supposed taken remains attracted social media comments, and although Kai was not identified in the posts, his mother said people "knew it was him".

The "social media content were extremely upsetting", she said.

Mental Health Impact

She added that her son had been identified with mild ADHD, and as part of that disorder, other peoples' opinions really were important to him.

"It would have hurt him deeply," she said, "particularly when this was not true".

Kai was detained at home, but nothing was discovered. He was taken to a police station and later released under investigation.

Police said they would be in touch, the inquest learned, but had not contacted the relatives by the time of his death.

Withdrawal and Worry

His mother said Kai "became isolated" after the arrest and "repeatedly inquired me whether I had received anything from the authorities", because his ADHD meant sometimes "certain periods could feel like much longer".

When she spoke to him about the supposed incident, she said her son informed her he had gone into the residence because the resident who resided there had said he could use the toilet whenever he needed, but refuted taking anything.

Online Bullying

In a combined testimony between her and her spouse, Mrs Lloyd said her son was being harassed online after the accusations.

The proceedings learned that one young adult urged Kai to kill himself.

She had no worries on the night before he died, explaining how she had listened to him "laughing and teasing".

She described him as a "caring, loving" boy, and said her "relatives is totally shattered".

He had been "clearly concealing his concerns", she said, noting that he could not bear to have anyone "think bad of him".

School Response

The inquest heard from educational personnel at the local High School.

On November 8th, she "heard some students discussing that Kai had been detained and that was the initial I learned".

"He informed me... he'd done nothing wrong," she added.

After the discussion, the staff member said she rang Kai's family landline and left a message saying she had spoken to the student about the allegations.

The proceedings heard his parents said they never got that communication.

Formal Finding

Senior coroner informed the inquest he would await documents regarding what improvements had been made to dealing with suspects with the condition, before deciding whether he should make a prevention of future fatalities report.

Delivering a narrative finding, he said: "Around November 8th, 2021, unsubstantiated accusations were made against the teenager, a 14-year-old individual.

"Likely falsehoods were subsequently embellished and exaggerated through the platform of social media.

"On November 11th, he was interviewed by the police and after his questioning he was freed while investigations continued."

The official determined: "Exists no evidence that the acts or omissions of any agency led to or contributed to his death and although it was the outcome of a self-inflicted action it is impossible to discern his purpose."