Home detention for youth who helped friend's suicide

By David Clarkson

A 17-year-old who admitted helping a young friend commit suicide in a Sydenham park has been given eight months home detention after spending four months in custody on remand in the at-risk unit at Christchurch Men’s Prison.

Name suppression was refused when Dillon Gargett was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch on the rare charge of assisting suicide.

Justice Graham Panckhurst said the case was so serious it precluded a suppression order, even though Gargett had originally been charged in the Youth Court. He also noted that the mother of 16-year-old Ben Dowdell, who had committed suicide, did not want suppression so that the case could be fully aired publicly.

Gargett was arrested a couple of weeks after the suicide which took place in early September. His bail was then revoked because he continued committing offences, and then because of concerns about his own safety he was sent to the at-risk unit.

The court was told Gargett had been sought out for advice by Ben Dowdell because it was known he had made a previous attempt on his own life. It seemed both boys had depressive illnesses.

Gargett and a group gathered for a “farewell” for Ben Dowdell the court was told. Ben then made an unsuccessful attempt his life, helped by Gargett.

The group reassembled next day, and Gargett provided equipment which was then taken to Bradford Park in Sydenham and attached to a piece of playground equipment. Ben Dowdell made the others leave before he successfully committed suicide.

Gargett looked back and saw what had happened but did not intervene. When Ben Dowdell’s father phoned that night asking about his son, Gargett did not tell him what had happened or where to find him.

That meant that the boy was left in the park all night and was discovered by a member of the public next morning.

A lot of detail about the boys’ lives emerged at the sentencing, with the dead boy’s mother, Debbie Close, reading an emotional victim impact statement and later saying that the family had never received an apology from Gargett.

She said her son had been unable to write because of a medical condition and had learning difficulties. He was “a good and kind soul” who was often bullied at school. “Even when he was experiencing daily physical attacks he would still go to school with a smile on his face.”

She said he was very unstable mentally when he had a party to say goodbye to his friends.

She tried everything to make his life better and was devastated to think that he felt he was such a failure. “I think the most important thing is that he knew how much he was loved, and knew I was proud to be his mother.”

Defence counsel David Ruth said both young men had found themselves “in very distressed circumstances”, but Gargett had now come to see that however deep and gloomy life seemed at the time, it could be worth living. He was regretful and remorseful about his actions.

Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said Gargett had the opportunity to say what was happening and get help, but had not done so. There was cruelty in not telling Ben’s father what had happened to his son.

Justice Panckhurst told Gargett: “Your victim was a young man who had a life before him, but for the moment could not see his way through his personal problems, and as a result was clearly in despair and it seems he was determined to take his own life.

“Anyone with a sense of judgment would have seen that his life would have improved for him.”

He could not understand why Gargett had not spoken out and got help for his friend.

“I think there is something in Mr Ruth’s suggestion that you were probably sought out for advice on account of your previous experience in relation to this insidious thing of youth suicide.”

He imposed an eight month home detention sentence, saying he hoped that the time already spent in custody would have a lasting effect on him.

He imposed special conditions that he undertake counselling, including psychiatric counselling, as directed, and consider going through the restorative justice process so that he could meet the victim’s family face to face.

Charges in the district court of being found unlawfully in a yard and being an unlicensed driver were dealt with by convictions and discharges later in the day.