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Thomas frequently missed classes. On the day of his death, he had got off the school bus to escape the bullies. Miss Thompson said she had spoken to Thomas's teachers, but the school claimed the only reported incident had been at a bus stop and involved children from another school.
Wallasey School headmaster Martin Pope said: "There is absolutely no record of the child reporting bullying within the school. We saw no evidence of Thomas being treated differently by other pupils." Describing him as an "extremely intelligent boy", he added: "The whole school has been deeply shocked and saddened by Thomas's death."
Wirral Council said the school's commitment to eradicating bullying is widely admired and this made Thomas's death particularly sad. But Dr. Michele Elliott, director of child protection group Kidscape, said: "Thomas's death is a terrible waste of a life. At 11 years old, he should have been living a carefree life and looking forward to the summer holidays. "The bullies are apparently responsible for his death, and anyone who stood by and watched it happen passively, should be punished."
Last month 16-year-old Karl Peart took an overdose of painkillers after suffering what his family called a lifetime of bullying. Two weeks later, Gemma Dimmick, a 15-year-old at the same school - Hirst High, in Ashington, Northumberland - also committed suicide. Relatives claimed she too had been bullied. Also last month, nine-year-old Jessica O'Connell's parents revealed the diary she kept of her suffering at St Wilfred Roman Catholic School in Ripon, North Yorkshire, as she was driven to the brink of suicide by bullies.