A transgender pupil was bullied at school and ended up needing counselling, before eventually hanging themself, an inquest heard today.

Virgil Rhone, aged 15 years of Kipling Close, Bicester, was born female but from a young age did not fit into the conventional stereotypes of a girl, their mother told the coroner.

The bullying at school became so relentless that Virgil’s parents, Vanessa, and Peter Rhone decided to home-school them.

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Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter heard that Virgil had serious mental health problems and had been known to self-harm and attempt suicide before their death on March 3, 2022.

Virgil’s mother Vanessa told the hearing that the self-harming had eased off when they “found their tribe” after making friends at Bicester Pride and the National Art Club.

She added: “That’s what makes what happened even more confusing to us.”

Amber Newman looked after Virgil at the charity Nae’s House in Bicester - a suicide prevention charity for young people under 30- gave evidence at the inquest.

 She said Virgil was finding life much better at college, adding: “At college Virgil had friends.

“Virgil had such a bad experience at school but when they went to college, they felt valued and started to have positive relationships with adults, not just family.”

On the evening of Virgil’s death, Vanessa said that the evening had not been anything out of the ordinary.

She recalled Virgil leaving their phone downstairs to charge - a rule that had been implemented so that they would "avoid seeing distressing content online" at night.

Mrs Rhone got up at around 1am to make a hot drink and noticed that Virgil's bedroom light was still on.

She went into Virgil’s room to check and found them hanging in the ensuite bathroom.

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Virgil was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where doctors tried desperately to save their life, but Virgil died on March 3.

The woman detective constable who investigated Virgil’s death said that there had been no third party or suspicious involvement and that both parents had been “remarkable and devoted."

At the conclusion of the evidence the coroner told Virgil's parents that he would not be recording a suicide verdict because of a lack of evidence of intention to commit suicide.

Instead, Mr Salter gave a narrative verdict.

He summarised the evidence saying that although there was a notebook found in the bathroom which could be taken as suicide notes, it is not clear when they were written.

He said: “Without a clear suicide note and taking into account Virgil’s age, condition and capacity, to form any intent it is not a finding I can make.

“I’m not going to return a conclusion of suicide.

 “The act was deliberate, but the intent was uncertain.”

The coroner added that the death could have been an "escalation of self-harming behaviour."

Mr Salter also put in place a Regulation 28 referral - which can only be made by the coroner to prevent future deaths.

He said he would be writing a letter to Oxford Health (the trust which looks after mental health hospitals in the region), Oxford University NHS Foundation Trusts (the trust that looks after the John Radcliffe Hospital) and Virgil's GP, to insist that medical notes can easily be shared with each other so that a patient gets the help they need.

The Samaritans 24 hour helpline is 116 123.