Mum discovers son’s heartbreaking childhood picture of hanged figures after he kills himself following years of torment after bullies tried to hang him

THIS is the haunting picture a mum discovered in her 18-year-old son's bedroom - after the trauma of almost being HANGED by bullies as a child made him kill himself.

Tragic Arthur Stephenson was just five years old when three boys tried to drag him into a noose hanging from a tree at his local park.

His heartbroken mum Jacqueline Peebles, 42, says the traumatic ordeal turned her bubbly son into a clingy child.

Anxious and introverted, he became an easy target for bullies and was taunted relentlessly throughout school.

Eventually Arthur, who had dreamed of being a voiceover artist and had funding for a place at university, took an overdose in his bedroom.

After his death, Jacqueline went through his childhood possessions and discovered a haunting drawing showing two figures hanging from ropes.

The mum-of-two, a delivery driver, says the horrific incident caused Arthur years of mental torment and eventually led him to take his own life.

She has now vowed to dedicate her life to campaigning for bullying to be outlawed and has won the support of MP Tom Brake.

Jacqueline, of Morden, Surrey, said: "Before it happened he was always full of life and he was beautiful, honestly.

"He was hard work because he was full of beans so I had to keep an eye on him all the time, but he was lovely.