Boy, 14, found dead after he was falsely accused of despicable crime
A coroner has said that the teenager took his own life after false allegations were embellished and spread on social media
Kai “lit up every room he walked into”(Image: Lisa Lloyd)
But eight days later he was found hanged in his bedroom by his dad John at their family home in Dodds Drive, Connah’s Quay.
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In a statement read at an inquest in Ruthin today (October 29), Kai’s mum Lisa Lloyd said that on November 8 she received a text message from a Chloe Robinson asking if she was Kai’s mother.
Ms Robinson then stated: “Tell him thanks for burgling my flat.” News of the alleged burglary then spread on social media and the story appeared in the national press.
“Kai wasn’t mentioned in the articles but we live in a small community and people knew it was him,” she said.
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Mrs Lloyd said that as the story spread Kai, who was diagnosed in 2016 with mild ADHD, was bullied at school and the online posts were really upsetting.
Kai Lloyd sadly died at home in Connah’s Quay on November 19, 2021(Image: Lisa Lloyd)
“I know they would have really upset Kai. He cared deeply about other people. He would never hurt anybody.”
Mrs Lloyd said he was adamant he had not taken anything from the house and she contacted the police to try to clear things up, but heard nothing from them in the eight days before his death.
“It would have hurt him deeply that people were saying he had stolen a baby’s ashes, especially when this wasn’t true,” she said.
The school’s pastoral co-ordinator and his head of year Sue Messham said Kai was well-liked and had “an infectious smile”. She told the inquest she overheard some boys saying that Kai had been arrested and he told her he had done nothing wrong.
“I tried to reassure him that he needed to let the police investigate and the truth would come out,” she said.
Breaking the news to fellow pupils at assembly “was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do,” she said.
The current headteacher James Forber told the hearing that policies regarding disclosures had been introduced and roles and responsibilities had been clarified.
Kai “lit up every room he walked into”(Image: Lisa Lloyd)
John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, read a report from North Wales Police on the investigation into the alleged burglary, which stated: “It appears that the said property was not stolen.”
He recorded a narrative conclusion in which, referring to the “unsubstantiated allegations”, he said: “Likely falsehoods were subsequently embellished and exaggerated through the medium of social media.” Kai, he said, had “exhibited no behavioural concerns to his family or his school and gave no indication of any intention to harm himself”.