Neighbours' shock at Bridgend death

Neighbours have spoken of their shock at the latest death in a Welsh county hit by a spate of suicides.

Police said the 19-year-old male, named locally as shop worker Shaun Rees, was found in Bettws, near the town of Bridgend, South Wales, at 7.30am on Sunday morning.

Inspector Marion Stevenson said: "There do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances and an investigation is under way."

Mr Rees is believed to be the 19th person to have taken their lives in Bridgend since the beginning of 2007.

Bridgend Coroner Philip Walters is expected to open an inquest into the death on Friday.

Richard Owen, 60, lived in the house in front of the lane where Mr Rees was found. He said: "It's just tragic for somebody that's so young to die like that. I heard his sister found him. He was buying cans with his father on Saturday, but I'm not sure what happened after that."

He added: "The first I knew about it was when I saw the police around here at 9.30am yesterday. It's a bit of a shock that it's another death, and it gives you an eerie feeling knowing it happened at the bottom of the garden. It's so close to home.

"It's a bit strange. I don't know what can be done to stop more deaths. If people aren't prepared to go and talk there's not a lot you can do. I don't know what drives people that age to take such drastic action."

Mr Owen added that Mr Rees's aunt and uncle used to live in a house next to his which has since been demolished. He said he understood Mr Rees had been involved in an argument before his death.

A 60-year-old woman said she heard screaming on Sunday morning. She said: "The screaming was horrendous when they found him. I didn't know what the noise was at first. They called him Smiler. He had everything to live for."

A 46-year-old neighbour, whose son went to school with Mr Rees, said: "Something like this affects the whole village. All my son keeps saying is 'Why did he do it?' Whenever you went to Sainsbury's he was always there, smiling."

Michelle Norris, who lives next door to the Rees family, said she had comforted Mr Rees's sister, Ceri, yesterday.

She said: "He was a really nice boy and will be sadly missed by all my family. I've known him for about six years and I can't understand why this has happened. I can imagine how the family is feeling because I've lost my own brother."

She said Mr Rees also had a brother and was the youngest child and that his father teaches football to boys in the area. She said Mr Rees was a former pupil at Ynysawdre Comprehensive School in Bridgend.

About 35 floral tributes have now been left at the spot where Mr Rees was found.

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