Schoolboy commits suicide following harassment by drug dealers

A schoolboy who contacted the police about drug dealers operating near his home committed suicide following harassment by the drug gang.

Tom Acton, 16, was branded a rapist by a group of drug dealers who had been selling amphetamines and other illegal drugs outside his home. The gang decided to take revenge by starting a hate campaign against him. The police were unable to stop them.

The gang constantly attacked Tom in the street. His mother described them as being like “a pack of wolves hounding a wounded animal”. The gang also spread a story that he had tied a girl to a tree and raped her.

During the days that followed, Tom feared leaving his home and the stress of the situation caused him to self-harm. Three days before Tom was due to appear at the trial of one of his attackers, Tom was found critically ill in his bedroom. He died a few days later in hospital.

He had already prepared a written statement for the trial, which read: “I felt so scared for my life I wanted to break down and cry. I was scared to go out of the house. I wish I wasn’t here”.

Tom lived in a middle-class community and was the only person to speak out against the drug problem. Following the first violent incident, when the drug gang had attacked Tom and left him lying on the floor after smashing his head against the wall, his mother contacted the police. They replied that there was nothing that they could do.

“By the time the rape allegation was going around, kids were screaming at our front door for his blood and that they wanted to kill him,” Mrs Acton said.

Tom’s mother accuses the police, his high school and council officials for not doing enough to protect Tom.

Drug problems are not restricted to addicts and dealers; crime and social problems extend to all areas of society.