Paul Gascoigne’s nephew Jay, 22, ‘overdosed on drugs at girlfriend’s flat after he was bullied over celeb uncle at school’
South Tyneside Coroner's court heard how the ex-England star's teenage nephew had suffered with mental health problems since he was a teenager
PAUL Gascoigne's nephew overdosed on a cocktail of drugs after he was bullied over his celebrity uncle at school, an inquest heard today.
Jay Gascoigne, also known as Jay Kerrigan, was just 22 years old when he was found dead at his girlfriend's flat in Gateshead.
South Tyneside Coroner's court heard how the ex-England star's teenage nephew overdosed on a mixture of both illegal and prescribed drugs, including morphine, cannabis and benzodiazepines, before he was found dead on April 30, 2016.
Today Jay's mother Anna Kerrigan told Coroner Terence Carney how her son suffered from a catalogue of mental health problems throughout his life.
She described how her “excitable, musical and creative” son struggled at high school and was “bullied because of his uncle’s celebrity status” and his “quiet and sensitive nature”.
Anna, Gazza's sister, said: "It is really difficult to sort and pinpoint when I thought Jay had mental health issues until he was admitted into hospital.
"He was around 12 years old. He had anorexia, and then the constant crying, depression and the OCD.
"While he was in hospital when he was first allowed out of bed to go to the toilet on his own he would take two steps then one step back.
"We thought it was odd but did not identify it as OCD. He got a psychiatrist as the depression was more obvious than the OCD.
"He was constantly tidying, dismantling things and putting them in order. Everything in his bedroom that he could dismantle he would.
"He would shout at me to come up with a tape measure to measure how far his dressing table was from the wall.
"He used to break down and cry and curl up in a ball and did not want to do it but could not stop doing it.
"It caused him massive distress."
Gazza opened up earlier about his nephew's death in an emotional interview ahead of the inquest, and said it "hurt" to lose him.
Dr David Roberts, a GP at Jay's local practice, told the court how he had checked into the same private addiction clinic as Gazza.
The doctor, who had been treating Jay all his life, added: "Kerrigan was a very complex case and he was troubled for a number of years.
"It is very said that he continued to deteriorate."
Anna also told how her son suffered from intrusive thoughts and compulsions - and heard voices in his head.
The court heard Jay was speaking to Gateshead Evolve - a drug and alcohol service funded by the council - before his death.
Anna said: "I was speaking to Evolve who told me that the problems were mental health but mental health were saying they could not help him until he was clean.
"I just felt disheartened. I did all of Jay's referrals and everything."
Describing the ten days leading up to his death, Anna added: "He seemed to be really broken.
"Every day he was going further down. He was depressed.
"He was talking about feeling cracked and broken.";
His mum said the family felt Jay “seemed to fall between the cracks of mental health and drug services”, with neither able to offer the sort of help he felt he needed, even seeking private treatment at The Manor clinic in Southampton, which had treated his uncle in the past.
In the months before his death, Jay was hospitalised a number of times - Mrs Kerrigan said he “begged for help” from doctors and the mental health crisis team.
She said: “I looked at him every day and he seemed to be going further and further down, he was crying constantly, talking about feeling cracked, feeling broken, he was in so much pain mentally and physically.”
On April 30, she left Jay to visit his girlfriend, after she had attended an appointment with him. It was the last time she would see her son.
“We had a kiss and that was it - he left to see Jade and then I got the phone call that night,” she said.
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Pathologist Dr Anthony Cross, of the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead, told the court how Jay had alcohol, cannabis, morphine and benzodiazepines in his system at the time of his death.
He said that he believed the cause of his death was cardio-respiratory depression - as his heart lost the ability to pump blood around the body after he fell into a deep sleep due to the drug use.
The inquest continues.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans on (free) 116123