Will Young’s twin brother tried to kill himself four times before he died, inquest hears
Will Young says his twin brother ‘might still be alive’ if he’d seen a psychiatrist or been detained before discharging himself from hospital and jumping to death from Westminster Bridge after nurse told inquest he did not pressure him to give up bed
- Rupert Young, 41, fell to his death from Westminster Bridge in July last year
- His twin brother, singer Will Young, had looked after Rupert for several years
- He asked why Rupert had not been seen by a psychiatrist while at a hospital
- For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org
Singer Will Young told an inquest today that his twin brother ‘might still be alive’ if he had seen a psychiatrist or was sectioned after being found on the edge of a bridge.
Rupert Young fell from Westminster Bridge in July last year following a long battle with mental health and an addiction to alcohol and painkillers.
The 41-year-old, whose identical brother was thrust into the spotlight after winning Pop Idol in 2002, went to hospital four times in the week before he died, St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard.
Today, Will demanded to know why his twin was not treated face-to-face, despite repeated admissions to a psychiatric hospital and a number of attempts to take his own life in the weeks leading up to his death.
Singer Will Young pictured today arriving at St Pancras Coroner’s Court, London, for the inquest into death of his twin brother Rupert Young
Rupert Young (right), 41, jumped to his death from Westminster Bridge in central London following years of battling with mental health and addiction, the hearing was told
The coroner gave a ruling of suicide at a hearing today, finding that Rupert (pictured in 2004) had intended to take his own life
Rupert died after jumping from a bridge in London on July 30 last year, just days after he was admitted to Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital on July 28, when he had been seen walking along the edge of a bridge in the capital.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court in north London was told he had been admitted to hospital four times in the week prior to his death, as he struggled with alcoholism and his mental health.
He was trying to avoid homelessness and told hospital staff that he had been attempting to contact his father for a place to stay before leaving the hospital without telling anyone, the inquest heard.
Senior coroner Mary Hassell gave a ruling of suicide at a hearing on Monday, finding that Rupert had intended to take his own life.
Rupert died after jumping from a bridge in London on July 30 last year
Following the conclusion of the inquest, Pop Idol winner Will Young said it had been a difficult time for himself and his family.
‘Those working within the NHS do an amazing job under very difficult circumstances,’ he told reporters.
‘And it’s never been more hard-pressed than at the moment, of course.
‘However, my brother is someone who had, in the months and weeks before his death, been into hospital on countless times following suicide attempts.’
Young said he was ‘astounded’ that his brother had been allowed to leave hospital two days after his suicide attempt without being referred to a consultant psychiatrist.
‘It is my belief that it must, or should have, been obvious to all concerned that he was at high risk of suicide and should have been detained under the Mental Health Act for his own safety,’ he said.
‘Had this been done, he might still be alive today.
‘I know we are not the only family in this situation and I pray that lessons are learned from this situation and that some of these deaths are prevented in the future.’
The final day of the inquest heard that a report written by a mental health nurse and a doctor found no recommendations in terms of Rupert’s care.
Stephen Badger, mental health nurse and clinical service lead for Crisis at Lambeth Hospital, said that the care Rupert received had been ‘appropriate’, adding that he had been ‘struck’ by how ‘committed’ staff had been.
During cross-examination, Young stood up and asked the witness a number of questions himself regarding the care of his brother, including whether he should have been assessed by a junior or consultant psychiatrist.
‘The psychiatrist would not need to see everyone coming through the emergency department,’ Mr Badger responded.
Earlier on Monday, Dennis Mupita, a psychiatric liaison nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, who spoke to Rupert in the hours before he left the hospital, said he had denied help from the homelessness team.
Mr Mupita said the 41-year-old appeared ‘calm’ and that he had not expressed any suicidal thoughts, adding: ‘There were no triggers or red flags that made me feel to go and ask these specific questions.’
Gudrun Young, representing the family, but of no relation, asked Mr Mupita if Rupert was going to be discharged from hospital due to a lack of bed space.
The inquest heard Rupert (right, with brother Will), went to hospital four times in the week before he died
The Pop Idol winner previously told the inquest he felt like a carer for his twin brother(right), in the weeks leading up to his death
Speaking after the inquest into the death of his twin, the singer said his brother ‘might still be alive today’
But Mr Mupita denied this was the case and said that Rupert would have been permitted to stay for another night on the inpatient ward if he had not absconded.
Rupert’s cause of death was given as immersion at the inquest – which opened in December.
Giving her condolences to the family, coroner Ms Hassell said: ‘I find on this occasion the action he took must have had with it the intention to take his life.’
Rupert had become homeless weeks before committing suicide after his brother felt unable to cope with living with him after three years.
The Pop Idol winner previously told the inquest he felt like a carer for his twin brother in the weeks leading up to his death.
Around a week before the tragedy, Will reported his brother to the police as a trespasser and Rupert was removed from the house.
This followed more than 20 years of severe depression and anxiety which provoked heavy drinking and suicidal thoughts, he explained.
Rupert made calls that Will had described as ‘cries for help’ before his suicide attempts.
- For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or click here for details.
The harrowing torment of Will Young’s twin Rupert who revealed how he tried to battle his demons in the years leading up to his death
By Dan Sales for MailOnline
Born just ten minutes apart, singer Will Young and his twin Rupert were brothers who looked and sounded almost exactly the same.
But while Will was adored by millions two years after his Pop Idol success, Rupert was battling his own demons plunged so deep in depression he was homeless on the streets drinking with tramps.
His self-harming and alcoholism had become so serious he could not wear short sleeved tops without revealing his self-inflicted cuts and burns.
And in a serious of brave interviews he carried out about his mental health he admitted attempting to take his own life, laying bare his torment from mental health challenges.
His family believed he had turned the corner and had lived with them during lockdown in their Berkshire home, even offering elderly neighbours help to get groceries.
It made his death all the more devastating.
Inseparable: Will and Rupert pictured together in 2008
Rupert had said problems had started when he started drinking when he was just 14 after he and Will were sent to boarding school.
He was thought of as the ‘the bad one’ and struggled at £13,260-a-term Wellington College in Berkshire.
He and Will’s father is engineering company director Robin and they grew up in a wealthy area of Wokingham, Berkshire with mother Annabel and sister Emma.
Rupert’s self-harming had started when he was just 13 and carried on for a further ten years.
He said in 2008: ‘When Will and I were at boarding school my identity was ‘the bad one’. And that continued until I was 25.
‘I would wind up the teachers and I was told in return that I was not a good person. ‘As a child I believed that and I internalised it,’ he added to The Times.
As Will beat Gareth Gates on the first run of Pop Idol, Rupert was rushed to hospital after being found bleeding at the bottom of a flats stairwell.
He kept it secret from his family but it would be start of a descent into the most troubled spell of his all-too-short life.
Rupert said: ‘Pop Idol was a great diversion. I could watch William get through each round of the show on Saturday nights and have a party.
‘I was so proud, and I was constantly in a party mood. But while everyone else sobered up and went back to work, I carried on all week. And I’d turn up at his gigs drunk and behave like a child, which was really hard for him.’
Rupert had found the comparison with his brother difficult, admitting at school teachers had used him as measuring stick against his own behaviour.
He said: ‘At boarding school I was always being compared to my brother. Looking back, my teachers could have been a bit more positive. I got into a situation where an older teacher used to regularly beat me up.
‘I was living on the streets two years after Will had won Pop Idol, drinking with tramps.
‘I was living in hell. My life, in my mind, was not worth living,’ he told BBC Berkshire.
In 2004 Rupert found himself before a judge at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court, accused of assaulting a chef in London’s West End
His twin brother, their parents Robin and Annabel had attempted to practice tough love with him to try and help him help himself out of his despair.
And the difference between the two brothers was laid bare as they glimpsed one another as Will chanced upon him driving on his way to an awards ceremony.
As he passed the train station he saw Rupert there, clear that he had been drinking all day.
Will said: ‘I knew I had to leave him alone. That was tough, of course it was, but you have to get on. And in that respect being so involved in work was a great thing.’
‘It’s very tough having a family member who is an addict. But when you’re dealing with that you eventually have to just stop and look after yourself. Me, my parents, my older sister, everyone. We all just had to walk away. We had to leave him.’
In 2004 Rupert found himself before a judge at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court, accused of assaulting a chef in London’s West End.
He revealed his well-known brother had led to him being attacked over his fame.
Rupert told the jury: ‘At times I have been called gay and shouted at by builders.
‘In fact, myself and Will were attacked in a club once.
‘We as a family all try and stay positive.
‘But there are times when members of the general public seem to act in a strange way around him or myself.’
At times I have been called gay and shouted at by builders,’ he told Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court.
‘In fact, myself and Will were attacked in a club once.’
He was cleared off any wrongdoing but it appeared to be the catalyst for a change in his outlook on life.
He estimated his parents had spent some £120,000 on trying to help him get better and he even had been sectioned at one point.
In summer of 2005 he went to the Sierra Tucson treatment centre in the Arizona desert where it was discovered his experience at school had caused his depression.
He was diagnosed with dysthymia, the name if a type of depression that is caused by a trauma.
Finding out what had made him feel so desperate spurred him on to help others.
He set up the Mood Foundation charity to help people over 18 find help if they needed it, without the costs of treatment.
Rupert also conducted a series of interviews about his mental health battles in an attempt to help others.
It had seemed he had finally managed to keep his demons at bay after a troubled start to his life.
In 2019, a snap posted his social media page showed him with all of his family smiling happily.
And in the weeks leading up to his death he had offered to help neighbours at his parents’ home during lockdown.
