SUICIDE ! Anthony Bullied to death by girls.

Anthony Stubbs

The school prefect’s body was found in woodland near his home in Leyland, Lancs, on January 14.
He had vanished six weeks earlier, after spending the day with girlfriend Charlotte Mason, 18, and their four-month-old daughter Lily.

Anthony's mother, Denise Machin believes she knows the reason very well. She blames the bullying girls who hounded him about his sexuality, and his own inner struggle with his feelings.
Denise, 34, says:
“Anthony was getting bullied by girls for two years. He would get shouted ‘gay boy’ at, get slapped in the face, come home with his school jumper ripped and even got his phone stolen. He would be upset but pick himself up and go back the next day.
“I spoke to his teachers about it, but Anthony begged me not to get involved because it was making it worse and he’d get embarrassed.”

Anthony had been with Charlotte for two years, but their love just gave the bullies more ammunition.

Denise, who is also mum to Jodie, 15, and four-year-old Oscar, says: “The couple did find it tough — Charlotte would even be teased with people shouting things like, ‘You’re going out with a fa**ot’.”
Anthony’s suicide note — weathered from the schoolbag being outside for weeks — does not refer directly to the bullying but there are clues it was on his mind.
His mother reveals: “In it, he said that I should never let anyone walk over me.
“He said his little brother Oscar should grow up to be a ‘tough’ lad and that he could have his Xbox.”
Denise suspects that Anthony’s own inability to be seen as “tough” weighed on his mind.
She admits: “To me he always seemed to have camp mannerisms and I always had my suspicions he could be gay.”
Denise had learned that he had flirted with boys online, but she dared not bring up the subject that was such a torment at school.
She says: “He was still with Charlotte and I was worried he was confused about his sexuality.
“I kept it to myself as I didn’t want to embarrass him or scare him off talking to me.”

She adds: “I think his feelings for the same sex left him struggling to know what to do about it.
“I think it got on top of him — coping with these feelings, being a dad and being good to Charlotte.
“I think there should be someone in schools to support teenagers who may be going through this confusion.
“There was no one there for Anthony. I just feel sorry — I feel like I let him down.”