Mum's heartbreaking tribute after son's death at Darlington QE college

Sam Coutts passed away at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College last week and now his family are calling on people to be kinder to vulnerable people as they struggle to come to terms with their loss.

Mother-of-four Kirsten Coutts has spoken out as she is determined that Sam will be remembered for the "kind and loving" son he was.

Ms Coutts, a nurse, knew that her son had gone missing but she was not prepared for the devastating news that he had died at the Darlington sixth form college.

Police and ambulance crews were called to the Vane Terrace college at about 1.30pm on Tuesday, January 13, following concerns for the welfare of a man.

Tragically, the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.

His heartbroken mum said Sam, who had been diagnosed as autistic, had been struggling to find his place in the world and had retreated further and further into himself.

“He was such a funny boy and there wasn’t a bad bone in his body,” she said. “He was such a lovely boy, but there was also streak of mischief in him.”

The teenage A-level student, who was studying biology, psychology and applied science, had started to become more and more isolated.

His mum said he was spending a lot of his time online expressing his frustration at his diagnosis and his wish to be considered ‘normal’.

Ms Coutts said: “He had started to withdraw a little bit. He even told me that I was neurotypical and couldn’t understand - but we had tried so hard to understand his own unique ways.

"Someone said to me that ‘the world got too much for him' and I believe that is exactly what happened to Sam."

The 48-year-old said her son had wanted to change so much about himself, but that he was "our beautiful boy".

“Autistic people can be isolated and lonely and they can’t always articulate what they are feeling or why they are feeling a certain way,” she said.

“People really need to think about the impact their words can have on people – to them it might just be a throwaway comment, but it has the drip, drip effect on others.

“At times he wanted to change so much about himself, how he looked, how he moved, and that was because of what people had said to him over the years.”

As well as paying tribute to Sam, his devastated family hope that people can learn to be nicer to people as no one knows what another person is going through.

“If there is one thing that I could hope to come as a result of our heartbreak, it would be for people to think about what they say to other people and think about the power of their words,” she said.

“People can say the cruellest things about others and it doesn’t have to be that way – why can’t people just be nicer to each other.”

Sam’s stepfather, Robert Mochrie, said the teenager had formed a close relationship with his own two children.

He said: “Sam was really comfortable around them because we got his dry sense of humour and never made an issue of his autism.

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“My son went to the gym with him, they played together when they were children and even built a tree house together.”

Sam leaves behind his mother, his father Matthew Coutts and three siblings as well as his stepfather and two stepsiblings.

The teenager’s funeral will take place St Mary’s Church, Gainford, on February 16 at noon.

Ms Coutts said: “We want people to remember Sam as a kind and funny person who would never do anything to deliberately harm anyone else.”

If you are in need of support you can contact the following:

- Samaritans is available, day or night, 365 days of the year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

- If U Care Share on 0191 387 5661 or text IUCS to 85258

- SANE on 07984 967 708, Calm on 0800 58 58 58