Family of student who died at St Paul’s Cathedral ‘didn’t know he wasn’t going to uni’

The family of a teenager who died by suicide claim they weren’t told he had been skipping university classes for two months.

James Jorge De Sousa Stayton, known as JJ, was 19 when he jumped from the Whispering Gallery in St Paul’s Cathedral on April 1.

Described as a ‘beautiful, talented and intelligent’ man, he had hidden the extent of his mental health struggles from his family and close friends and was failing to attend university classes.

His family are now speaking out in hope that his death will prevent other students from ‘slipping under the radar’ in a similar way.

Sister Sapphire De Sousa Stayton said: ‘We learned, following his death, that JJ had not been going to university for at least two months, isolating himself from everyone.

‘Despite communications with the university, they were unable to inform us of these changes in his attendance.

‘Had we known, (or another trusted individual, chosen by the student) it is possible something could have been done to help him.’

JJ, from Herefordshire, was studying at the Queen Mary University of London at the time of his death.

Sapphire has now set up a fundraising page in a bid to urge universities to change their protocols surrounding mental health.

She wrote: ‘We, his family, aim to raise funds to donate to charities as the first step in our mission to create change around the stigma of mental health, improve how it is managed and understood.

‘We want to help ensure that help is available to young people when they need it most. We aim to push for a change in protocols – specifically in universities – to prevent young adults slipping under the radar.

‘Currently, there is no convention, that we are aware of, where someone is alerted to a significant change in circumstance – when students stop attending class, for example.’

So far, the page has raised more than £3,300 towards their £5,000 target.

An inquest into JJ’s death was opened and adjourned on April 15.

His family issued a statement in the days after his death which read: ‘We are all in deep shock at the loss of our beautiful, talented and intelligent son.

‘He had a deep passion for history and revelled in sharing his knowledge with others.  He truly was a young gentleman, always willing to help others where he could.

‘With his wicked sense of humour and mischievous smile he could bring irrepressible joy to anyone in his company.

‘Words cannot adequately express the devastation we feel, nor the love we have for him. The world is unarguably a lesser place without JJ.’