University student hanged himself in halls of residence after he was told to isolate amid spike of coronavirus cases

24.01.2022 - 23:39 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

A university fresher who struggled with mental health problems hanged himself in his halls of residence after he was told to isolate amid a spike in coronavirus cases in Manchester, an inquest heard.

Finn Kitson, 19, was three weeks into a politics and international relations degree at the University of Manchester when he took his own life at halls of residence in Fallowfield in 2020.

The teenager, described by his parents as 'beautiful and brilliant', had been told to isolate after one of the seven other students in his flat contracted Covid-19 in September 2020 when virus numbers in Manchester were beginning to rise sharply following the end of the first national lockdown.

Security staff found him dead in his room on October 8, 2020 - with just two of his 14 days of isolation remaining.

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His mother Jane Denney told an inquest in Manchester on Monday her son had been a 'normal happy-go-lucky boy' but he began to suffer from anxiety when he was 14 or 15 and was prescribed the antidepressant fluoxetine when he was about 17.

Her son had a 'busy social life', loved music, gaming, history and politics. He was a member of Amnesty International, said Ms Denney.

She said: "I think I would say his behaviour we thought was quite like a normal teenager. He would shut himself in his bedroom and do whatever he did in his bedroom. By then he started not to be able to sleep very well. He suffered from headaches. He was originally treated for migraines. It developed into anxiety."

The medication 'did help a little bit' and he also saw a therapist although he 'didn't really share too much' with his parents, said Ms Denney.

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