Did A Boy Really Kill Himself After His Wii Was Taken Away?

The story goes a little something like this: Britain’s Daily Telegraph runs a story with the headline “Schoolboy hangs himself after row over Nintendo Wii”. Said story suggests that the 13 year-old boy “hanged himself with his school tie” after his parents had confiscated his Wii following some bad behaviour. The headline and presence of the Wii was enough to give the Telelgraph’s (relatively) sensible story some traction, get a bunch of other news outlets and websites thinking – and reporting – that he killed himself. Over a Wii. Pity it’s all a load of rubbish. Yes, the boy had his Wii confiscated, and yes, he was found with his tie around his neck, hanging from his bunk bed, but did he kill himself? As in, an act of suicide? No. He didn’t. His death was an accident, which took place while he was throwing a temper tantrum after he’d been sent to his room. His parents know this. The coroner knows this, saying the boy “had killed himself by accident”. But hey, why let that get in the way of a good “Boy Kills Himself Over Wii” headline!

Schoolboy hangs himself after row over Nintendo Wii [Telegraph]