Dean Worswick (29th April 1988 to 29th March 2004)

 

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.