A TEENAGER who attended a prestigious public school killed himself with his father’s gun after being suspended from school for smoking.

An inquest into his death at Northallerton’s County Hall heard that Christian Mangles, known as Kit, 17, from Egton, near Whitby, killed himself on June 14, 2018, after taking a gun from his father’s gun safe and driving to Blakey Ridge.

Kit had been arrested the day before his suicide, following the emergence of messages exchanged between others and himself on social media, however, assistant coroner John Broadbridge said the details of the arrest were not relevant to the inquest.

Kit had also been suspended from Ampleforth College, where he was a boarder in his sixth year, for smoking two days previously.

The Mangles family had lived in Hong Kong before moving to North Yorkshire in 2014, but their children Johnny, Kit and Helena all attended boarding school from the age of 11, with Kit starting in 2011.

The inquest heard that Kit was caught smoking for the third time and was suspended from school, with his mother Jill Mangles picking him up on June 12, as father Edward Mangles was working away in Hong Kong.

On June 13, Kit was arrested – which North Yorkshire Police’s Detective Sergeant Michael Moorhouse told the inquest: “Would have amounted to serious criminal conduct if proven to be true.”

Snapchat messages also came to light, where Kit was involved in a discussion about self harm or suicide if a “secret” came out.

However, Kit was released without charge and Mrs Mangles was not informed of the messages, which indicated that Kit might be a threat to himself. His iPhone and iPad were retained by police pending further investigation.

On June 14, Ampleforth College informed Mrs Mangles that Kit had been suspended from school indefinitely because of the police investigation, which could potentially be a lengthy process.

Mrs Mangles said: “We went out to Whitby and I got him a burger for lunch. He wasn’t eating much and was monosyllabic. I told him it was incredibly serious to be interviewed by police and that we would have to discuss it when his father was home.

“He was due to have an interview for an Army scholarship the following week and we were using the suspension time to prepare for that. He was looking forward to it.”

But that evening Mrs Mangles left Kit at home alone while she went to pick up Mr Mangles, who had returned from Hong Kong, from York.

When the couple returned home they noticed Kit’s car had gone, then discovered a gun was missing from the gun safe. 

His body was discovered at about 10.30pm at Blakey Ridge. He had suffered a gunshot wound to his head.

Mrs Mangles said: “He was a lovely boy and he loved school. He could be naughty and cheeky but he was caring. He was popular with teachers and his peers.”

The coroner concluded the wound was self-inflicted and ruled his death to be suicide.

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