Teen Commits Suicide After Being Told His Grades Weren’t Good Enough To Stay In College

An 18-year-old man reportedly committed suicide by jumping under a moving train at the Horsham Road level crossing in the U.K. after he was told his grades weren’t good enough to keep him in college.

An inquest heard that Michael Platt jumped over the barrier at the crossing and purposely threw himself under a train, which was travelling at 40 m.p.h.

According to reports, Platt left the Ifield Community College, where he had been studying, just a few minutes before committing suicide after having been told to go to the Central Sussex College’s Crawley campus to see if he could join a course there.

Jane Platt, the victim’s mother, speaking at the inquest said that her son was a “very bright child” but “took his time on his work.”

She added, “In the sixth form he was the life and soul of the party. He looked out for everyone else.”

In speaking about her son, Platt said that she never recalled him ever saying he was depressed, let alone suicidal.

“The only time he told me anything, looking back, in hindsight, was he thought the world wasn’t a nice place and he had an issue with the way society is. All he said was ‘what is the point? We struggle; we work hard for nothing at the end of it. I said ‘you leave a legacy’. But to him the world was an ugly place.”

In speaking about the incident from the police’s point of view, Inspector Ancell, an officer involved with the case at the time, said as follows.

“As the train driver approached Horsham Road level crossing he said he saw people on either side of the closed gates. As he got nearer he saw a young male jump over the barrier and stand in the middle of the railway track, immediately in front of his train. There was nothing the train driver could do.”

A specially arranged memorial service for the deceased took place last month, at the college which he attended.

[Image Credit: ITV]