Sailing mad schoolboy, 9, hanged himself while 'playing with knots'

A sailing mad schoolboy who was found hanging at his home may have been playing with knots when he died.

Police are investigating how nine-year-old Morgan Pound was found dead at his home in Newlyn, Cornwall.

He was a keen sailor who had already spent three summers cruising from Britain to the Mediterranean in their 43-foot racing yacht Xanadu of Falmouth.

His parents Stephen and Fiona run a chartered surveyor and storage businesses in Penryn and have taken Nathan and his sister Morwenna, aged eight with them on their travels.

He and his sister had their own dinghies which they sailed at Mylor Harbour near their home.

Morgan loved the sea and boats and detectives are investigating if he was playing with ropes or knots when he died.

They stress that nobody else is involved and the case is not being treated as suspicious but they are still trying to establish exactly what happened.

Morgan crossed the Bay of Biscay with his parents when he was just six and has since sailed with them to Spain, Italy, Croatia, Turkey and the Greek islands.

His mother Fiona kept an internet blog about the family's travels which records how Morgan, then aged just seven, was sleeping in the cockpit as she wrote her diary in Corfu in 2006.

A fellow sailor at Mylor Harbour said: "It is an absolute tragedy. Fiona and Stephen love sailing and I often see their children in the harbour splashing around in their dinghies.

"They had a lovely time and were full of joy. Morgan was such a smashing child with everything ahead of him. Life can be so cruel."

Classmates of the child at Mylor Bridge School in Penryn, Cornwall, have been offered counseling after being told of his death after the half term break.

Morgan was found dead shortly after returning home from school on Monday.

Ambulance paramedics tried to resuscitate the boy but he was declared dead after arrival at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske, Truro.

The Cornwall coroner Dr Emma Carlyon is expected to open and adjourn an inquest later this week.

A police spokesman said: "At 5.50 p.m. on Monday 14 April 2008 police and ambulance services were called to a private address in Penryn, Cornwall.

"A nine-year-old boy was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, where he later died.

"Police have launched an inquiry to establish how the boy died and the coroner has been informed.

"The death is not being treated as suspicious at this time and officers are keeping close contact with the boy's family to offer support.

"The boy was a pupil at Mylor Bridge School, Penryn.

"Police have been in close contact with the teaching staff and governor of the school. Support for pupils is being provided by the Local Authority."

A head teacher paid tribute to Morgan.

Chris Lea, head of Mylor Bridge Community Primary School said: "Everyone at Mylor Bridge School is shocked and saddened by this pupil's death.

"He was a highly popular and much loved member of our school community and he will be sorely missed by everyone here.

" He was an energetic, outgoing boy who had many friends and was involved in lots of school activities.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends at this time of great sorrow."

Parent Peter Gulley, aged 47, whose own son was a friend of Morgan, said the whole community is shocked by his death.

He said: "My son is extremely shocked, as you can imagine. Everyone is shocked and cannot believe what has happened. It is so hard to take in.

"Morgan really was a lovely boy and well liked. He was full of life. He was a huge Star Wars fan and liked rugby.

"The school has been very good with the other children and offered them lots of support.

"I cannot imagine what Morgan's family are going through. Our prayers and thoughts are with them."