Boy of eight hanged himself after he saw samurai film

A boy of eight whose parents allowed him to watch violent movies was found hanged after viewing a film that features ritualistic suicides.
Lewis McGlynn had been watching the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, which has a 15 certificate, when his father discovered him hanging from his bedroom door.

His family and neighbours desperately tried to resuscitate him but he was pronounced dead at hospital shortly afterwards.
An investigation revealed Lewis had a large number of DVDs in his bedroom that belonged to his older brother, but his parents, John and Beth, had not stopped him watching them. He also had a habit of playing out scenes in films.

Hertfordshire coroner Edward Thomas yesterday warned of the danger of allowing children to watch adult movies as he recorded a verdict of accidental death following an inquest in Hatfield.
‘He may well have been doing some of the things he might have seen in videos,’ he told Mr and Mrs McGlynn. ‘You described he wanted to be Indiana Jones with a whip and things like wrestling. I think he was playing around.
‘It’s so important that these  videos have 18 or 15 certificates. They are there for a purpose.

‘It’s important that kids do watch what is suitable for their age. He didn’t need to die.’ 
Lewis was found unconscious in his room at the family home in  Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, at midnight on January 13 by  his father, a warehouseman.
The schoolboy’s mother told the inquest that hours before his death he had found a rope that was used to tie a snowman Christmas decoration to the house. He used it as a whip pretending to be Indiana Jones before she made him return it to the bag of decorations.

Mrs McGlynn added: ‘John came back at 11.30pm and went to check on Lewis. I heard a scream and [he shouted] “he’s tied something round his neck”. He came downstairs holding Lewis and he was floppy. I ran round next door because they knew CPR.’ 
Mr McGlynn said The Last Samurai was playing on his son’s television when he found him.
The 2003 film contains gory samurai customs including seppuku, a suicide ritual by disembowelment.
In one scene a man stabs himself in the stomach with a knife before he is beheaded by another man.
Mr and Mrs McGlynn declined to comment yesterday.
Vivienne Pattison, director of lobby group Media Watch UK, said the death highlighted the dangers of exposing children to ‘extreme violence’.

She added: ‘Violence is not a taste issue but a harm issue and this case unfortunately shows what can happen when children are exposed to extreme violence. Parents must ensure they keep these films and games out of reach of children.’



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