Distraught parents David and Irene Edwards have been handed a farewell letter from their son Kirk - a week after he was found hanging in a cell.

NOTE: Kirk Edwards' parents, Irene and David, with the farewell note their son left and the laced-up shoes returned to them

Picture: David Harrison

Kirk, 17, left the note, saying "Mum, Mum, Mum...I loved you all. Tell Heather I love her... Kirk," in his cell at Wetherby Young Offenders' Institution.

But Mrs Edwards claims she was told on the night of the hanging that he had not left any note, and she subsequently spent a terrible week wondering why.

She says she only discovered the truth when she went to the institution yesterday to retrieve Kirk's clothing, and was given the letter by the governor.

"Why couldn't they tell us he had left a note?" asked Mrs Edwards, of Lucas Avenue, Clifton. "I asked if he had left a note and they said 'No.' Why lie to me? They have made us suffer for a full week."

Kirk was found hanging two days after being sent to the institution by Selby Youth Court on Monday last week, he died in hospital two days later. The court was told that Kirk, who had admitted ten offences including aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent, and handling stolen property, had severe learning difficulties.

Mrs Edwards has raised fresh concerns about the circumstances surrounding her son's death:

She says fellow inmates whom she met yesterday told her they had been with Kirk beforehand and they could not understand his actions

Letters posted by Kirk to the couple and to his girlfriend, Heather, also gave no hint of suicidal feelings. One to his mother said: "I am OK....here is not as bad as I thought it would be."

Mrs Edwards claims Kirk had several marks on his head and body when he was in intensive care at Harrogate District Hospital, but he had no such marks before being sentenced by Selby Youth Court several days earlier

Kirk's boots have been handed back with their laces, implying that the laces he hanged himself with had been obtained from someone else.

The couple have also obtained a copy of a probation officer's report to the court, which recommended that Kirk should be put on probation.

The Home Office was unable to comment on Mrs Edwards' claims today.

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