Independent, The (London): Eminem `influenced' suicide victim, 17

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Eminem `influenced' suicide victim, 17

Matthew Beard

A STUDENT who killed himself by diving in front of a train may have been influenced by the "depressing" lyrics of the American rapper Eminem, a coroner said yesterday.

An inquest heard that a computer print-out with the lyrics from one of Eminem's songs, "Rock Bottom", formed part of a note written by David Hurcombe, aged 17, before he committed suicide.

The note, found by his mother, indicated that he "did not want to go on living" and under the Eminem lyrics taken from his album, The Slim Shady LP, he wrote, "Anyway, go to go, miss my train, see y'all in hell."

The teenager, who lived in Teignmouth and was a electrical servicing student at the South Devon College, dived in front of a train after it emerged from a tunnel in Holcombe last October.

The inquest in Teignmouth, Devon heard that he had recently been teased by friends about his sexual orientation after a homosexual said at a party that he "fancied him".

Two days before his death the teenager told a friend he had thought about jumping off a multi-storey car park. Recording a verdict of suicide, the South Devon coroner Hamish Turner said: "It seems quite clear from his note and the rather depressing music and words that he was somewhat depressed.

"He appears to have been unusually worried about an allegation over his sexual orientation which really should not affect people a great deal either way, but obviously he worried about it."

Speaking about the rapper's influence over the teenager after the inquest, he added: "It struck me as pretty miserable stuff. I think the references to death are a bit off."

Mrs Hurcombe and her husband declined to comment after the inquest.

Eminen, who was recently nominated for a Grammy award award for his Marshall Mathers LP and is due to perform in Britain soon, has become a cult figure for teenagers and has been described as a "parents' nightmare" for his use of violent and crude lyrics. His wife tried to kill herself last year.