Archie Battersbee’s death was an accident, coroner concludes

Coronor says 12-year-old from Essex was placed on life support after prank or experiment went wrong

Archie Battersbee, whose parents fought a lengthy battle to prevent his life support being switched off, died as a result of a prank or experiment gone wrong, a coroner has concluded.

After two days of evidence from Archie’s mother, Hollie Dance, medical staff and police, Essex’s senior coroner, Lincoln Brookes, said on Wednesday his official verdict was that the 12-year-old’s death on 6 August last year was caused by an accident.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.