'Beautiful' and 'sociable' Sale boy's death ruled as accidental

On Tuesday, the inquest into the death of 14-year-old Luke Howe concluded at Stockport Coroners' Court.

Luke, who was from Sale, was found dead in the River Bollin, near Ashley Road in Hale, on January 19 this year.

In a moving tribute shared by Luke's family following the inquest, they said: "We are grateful to the coroner and to everyone that has taken part in the inquest for the effort that they have put into understanding the tragic loss of our beautiful son, grandchild, nephew, cousin, and friend, Luke.

Luke lived with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, while the coroner said it was possible he also had OCD (Image: Howe family)

"Luke was full of joy and had an absolute love for life and new experiences.

"He was extremely sociable and had a great sense of humour, and as a result he made lots of friends around Sale. It was hard to go for a walk into the town centre without him striking up a conversation with someone that he knew from school or one of the playgroups he went to over the years.

"Luke’s absence leaves a massive hole in our hearts. We miss him every day and life is not the same without him.

"We would also like to thank all the people who joined in the search for Luke and contributed to the school fund after he had been found.

"We took a great deal of comfort from the many kind words that were posted on the fundraising page, and we continue to take comfort from the feelings of goodwill and love that have been expressed since.

"Finally, I would like to thank all the police and the search and rescue volunteers that were involved in the search for Luke.

"We were taken aback at the speed of response and the scale of the search operation. It was beyond anything we would have expected, and we are very grateful for it."

Luke was a pupil at Brentwood Community College, a specialist school in Sale (Image: Howe family)

The court heard that Luke had a significant learning disability, autism spectrum disorder and ADHD and that he required care from social workers.

In his concluding remarks, area coroner for South Manchester, Christopher Morris, said Luke would often "act on impulse", with his actions sometimes being "wholly unpredictable" and that there was an "absence of any sense of danger".

On occasions, Luke's actions would get him into situations of danger, including entering water, swallowing coins and once being found near a motorway.

On the evening of January 18, Luke was at his grandparents house when he went to the toilet at around 6pm.

Luke's family said he had an absolute love for new experiences (Image: Howe family)

In the minute in which he was out of sight, Luke managed to unlock the front door and run away from the property, despite the fact extra precautions were taken to prevent Luke's escape from the address.

Mr Morris said "this was clearly an impulsive act" by Luke.

Emergency services were immediately alerted about Luke's disappearance, however Luke's body was found in the River Bollin the next day.

Mr Morris accepted Luke's cause of death as drowning and stated there was no third-party involvement in his death.

Mr Morris said Luke could act impulsively and did not always have an appreciation for risks he would take (Image: Howe family)

The coroner added: "There is not a shred of evidence which leads me to suspect that Luke intended to come to any harm by running away."

Mr Morris added that Luke would have been "wholly oblivious" to the dangers of leaving the property and then entering the river.

He added that he could not say for certain if Luke intended to enter the water or not or if he fell in.

The coroner said Luke's family, who were very devoted, had suffered a huge loss following his death (Image: Howe family)

Mr Morris said it was likely that Luke had "no appreciation to the risks of being in or near water on that cold dark night".

The coroner concluded that Luke died due to an accident.

Mr Morris paid tribute to Luke, describing him as a "truly remarkable young man" who was "greatly missed every day", also describing him as a "very loving an big hearted person who enriched the lives of others."

The coroner also paid tribute to Luke's family, saying "no family could have done more", a sentiment which was echoed by principal clinical psychologist at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Joanne Parry, who said Luke's family were "very devoted".