A 14-year-old boy who dyed his hair brown in an effort to stop bullies attacking him for being ginger was found hanged by his father, an inquest has heard.

Simon Walters – who was a pupil at Heath Park School in Wolverhampton, West Midlands – was discovered dead in his bedroom by his 42-year-old father Nigel, with whom he lived alone.

Mr Walters last saw his son alive before leaving for work at 8pm, and said he would always text him during a shift to say he loved him – but on that night he was too busy and never sent the message.

Speaking at the hearing at Smethwick Council House yesterday, Mr Walters described the moment he found his son dead after returning home from a night shift at 4.15am on a day in October last year.

Mr Walters said: ‘Simon’s music was blaring and his lights were still on so I went upstairs to tell him to go to bed. He was hanging. I just ran downstairs screaming – I could not believe it. I was in shock.’

The warehouse worker told the inquest that Simon was also physically attacked by his tormenters and had confronted the school about the abuse, which had been going on for over five months.

He said: ‘In May last year I noticed a lump on his head. When I confronted him about it he said a boy at school hit him.

‘On another occasion when I called Simon to tell him I would pick him up from school I heard children calling him names in the background.

‘The phone call was really bad, lots of children were calling him names and shouting swear words. I discussed the matter with the school and was told there was a zero tolerance policy towards bullying.’

Mr Walters said he was reassured the matter would be resolved but the next day Simon begged his father to go to school with him.

He added: ‘He said “Father can you come to school with me?” He was terrified, he was shaking, he was crying. I asked if everything was okay afterwards and he said it was sorted.

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Sheriff’s officials Tuesday were seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect wanted for brutally beating an elderly couple during a home invasion in January.

Lorna Gable, 84, and her 95-year-old husband were attacked in the early morning hours of Jan. 19 after they woke up to find a burglar in their home.

Her husband was released after being hospitalized for a short time, but Gable succumbed to her injuries and died Feb. 15.

The case is now being investigated as a murder, detectives said.

Anyone with information about the suspect was asked to contact Det. Matthew Peterson or Sgt. Chris Fisher at San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Homicide Division at (909)387-3589 or call dispatch at (909)387-8313. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the We-tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or leave information on the We-Tip Hotline at http://www.wetip.com.

Denise Collins was found nude, moaning, covered in blood and barely conscious in her apartment’s bathroom in October 1991. The sliding glass door to the second-floor balcony was partially open, and there were ladder impressions in the ground underneath the balcony.

The 28-year-old aspiring artist was rushed to a hospital where she died the next day. Detectives found semen on her sheets and pubic hairs in her bed and in a towel.

A neighbor in Collins’ Orlando complex told detectives he had seen a man near Collins’ apartment near a ladder by the apartment’s balcony, and the neighbor later identified Darius Kimbrough, 19, as the man from a picture lineup. A maintenance man at the complex also said Kimbrough had watched him putting away a ladder in the complex around the time of the murder. Kimbrough was charged with the first-degree murder, sexual assault and burglary almost a year later. He was found guilty at his 1994 trial, during which experts testified that blood and semen samples taken from Collins’ bed were compatible with Kimbrough’s DNA.

More than two decades after Collins’ death, Kimbrough is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at Florida State Prison in Starke.

“He lived 22 years too long and too well and he’s going to go out clean and easy, and he doesn’t deserve it,” said Diane Stewart, Collins’ mother, in a recent telephone interview. “She didn’t go out that way, and he doesn’t deserve what he’s getting. He should go out the way she did. That’s how we feel.”

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Police are looking for a man they say shot and killed a Gastonia teen during a drug deal Saturday night.

Brandon Heath McCall died from a single gunshot wound. Police initially responded to a call regarding a traffic accident. McCall, 17, was one of the drivers involved.

Investigators soon discovered that McCall had been shot. He later died from his injuries.

The shooting happened in the 1800 block of West Third Avenue. According to investigators, McCall was involved in a drug transaction when he was shot. He fled the scene in his 2000 Honda Civic and drove to the 1700 block of West Garrison Boulevard before plowing into a sports utility vehicle.

McCall and his killer were acquaintances, according to investigators.

A senior at Hunter Huss High School, McCall lived at 122 Ridge Circle in Gastonia.

Police describe the shooter as a thin, black male about 6 feet tall in his late teens or early 20s wearing a dark hoodie. Investigators ask that anyone with information call Gastonia Police Department, 704-866-6702, or Crime Stoppers of Gaston County, 704-861-8000.

A Sallis man faces multiple charges after allegedly running a Kosciusko police roadblock on Saturday, striking a vehicle and killing two people.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol said Nickholas Gerard Jackson, 31, drove through the driver’s license checkpoint at the junction of Mississippi Highways 12 and 35-19 and collided with a car.

Officials said Erica Holifield, 16, died in the crash. Her stepmother, Chassie Holifield, 33, died later of her injuries.

One other person was hurt, investigators said. A 3-year-old in the car was not injured.

Jackson is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, failure to stop a motor vehicle when directed by police, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving and disregard for a traffic device.

Police investigator Mark Hill said more charges are possible when the investigation is completed.

A man charged in the April murder of his girlfriend’s 10-year-old son pleaded guilty to murder in court Thursday.

Eugene W. Mays, 39, pleaded guilty to first degree murder in Cabarrus County court, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Mays was arrested in April after investigators found 10-year-old Mark Ethan Alexander Stewart, and his 32-year-old mother, Christi Melisha Stewart, during a welfare check at a home on South Ridge Avenue the night before.

The 10-year-old was dead. His mother was injured, and was taken to Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast for treatment, officials said.

Mays was located along Forbes Road in Gastonia around 2 a.m. the next day. He was arrested on outstanding misdemeanor warrants for unrelated charges and later charged with first degree murder in Mark Stewart’s death.

According to the coroner’s report in court Thursday, the 10-year-old endured 63 injuries.

Prosecutors say the boy suffered 11 stab wounds, 25 cutting wounds and 27 blunt force trauma injuries.

They said they believe the child was attempting to stop the violent attack against his mother.

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