Cemeteries on a sunny Sunday summer’s afternoon are a pleasure to
visit however often the graves I seek out spell boundless pain for those left
behind. This is one of them. Here I am at the grave of Dean Worswick, a child
actor from Bolton who appeared in Shameless,
Clocking Off, Coronation Street and Cops
– all while he was still at school.
One Monday morning a
person walking a dog in a field off Willand Drive in Bolton had their brain
indelibly stained by the sight of Dean’s body hanging from a tree. The poor lad
had lived nearby in Hapford Drive with his mum, dad and brother but he hadn’t
been home for two nights. Who can ever know why someone so young would end
their life without obvious cause? I suppose young folk are too young to
understand the infinite questions and bottomless sadness they’ll leave behind.
The coroner found Dean
had been so upset by his school’s decision to ban him from the prom (due to
truancy) that he walked out of school. He committed suicide three days before
the prom for which his parents had got him a suit. In a text to his parents he
said he was "going to a better place". Another text to a friend said
he would not return to school as he was "going to be dead". He had also been upset with his mock GCSE
results.
The head teacher at
Canon Slade head teacher said Dean had lots of friends, was effervescent and
the last type of person to commit suicide. He had a promising acting career
ahead. He’d started off attending drama workshops in Bury then done a few
adverts then progressed to popular programmes - all by age 15. How many school
kids do you know with such a brill head start? The coroner fell on the side of
leniency, recorded an open verdict and said she was not satisfied Dean knew the
consequences of his actions. Poor kid – poor family left behind.