Police await post-mortem on boy, 14, who died 'after chokehold'

‘Every parent’s worst nightmare’: Police await post-mortem results on boy, 14, who died at Lewis Capaldi’s old school ‘after being put in chokehold’ as they deny link to TikTok ‘TapOut challenge’

• Hamdan Khaliq died shortly after incident at St Kentigern’s Academy on Tuesday
• Police are probing the death and are awaiting post-mortem examination results

Police are awaiting the results of a post-mortem on a 14-year-old schoolboy who died after reportedly being put in a chokehold in a playground incident – as they deny any link to a TikTok ‘TapOut challenge’.

Hamdan Khaliq died shortly after being rushed to hospital when emergency services attended the incident St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, at around 1.20pm on Tuesday.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident and are currently awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination to provide further details around Hamdan’s cause of death. 

However, they do not believe the incident was part of an ‘online challenge’ amid social media speculation it was a so-called ‘tap out’ game.

The school, formerly attended by singer Lewis Capaldi, said an ‘isolated incident’ had taken place, though it is understood a second 14-year-old was also injured, The Sun reports.

Schoolboy Hamdan Khaliq, 14, who died ‘after being put in a chokehold’ in a playground incident

A group of police officers pictured at St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland

A number of floral tributes and messages were left outside the entrance to the school earlier today

Flowers and tribute messages have been left outside the school today.

One read: ‘Fly high, you will be missed by so many. Gone but never forgotten, you will always have a special place in our hearts. Miss and love you. Rest in peace, angel.’

It comes after his heartbroken cousin Zain Mohammed, 29, said: ‘Hamdan was being bullied for being different. He was put in a chokehold and it’s being passed off as a game called Tap Out.’

He told the Daily Record: ‘Hamdan was innocent and gentle and wouldn’t hurt a fly. He was reserved and he didn’t speak very much.

‘He was a good boy and so family oriented. We can’t believe he is gone. It’s a devastating loss. We loved him very much.’

A ‘tap out’ game is when a person is held in a chokehold and their neck is squeezed until they nearly pass out. They are supposed to ‘tap out’ before they lose consciousness.

The incident was raised in Scottish Parliament earlier today when Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, said Hamdan’s family were enduring ‘unimaginable heartache’.

In response, SNP leader Humza Yousaf said: ‘This is the worst tragedy, anybody who is a parent will know there cannot be a worse fear, a worse nightmare, that any parent has than losing a child, so I cannot think what the family are going through.’

The school, where singer Lewis Capaldi was once a pupil, said there had been an ‘isolated incident’ within the grounds

Headteacher Andrew Sharkey said: ‘Everyone in our school community has been devastated to learn of the tragic death of one of our pupils’

A floral tribute left at St Kentigern’s Academy to Hamdan after the incident on Tuesday

Headteacher Andrew Sharkey has said pupils are being offered support following the death.

In a statement yesterday, he said: ‘Everyone in our school community has been devastated to learn of the tragic death of one of our pupils.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends and we extend our deepest condolences and offers of support.

‘We have set up ongoing emotional support and signposting for students and staff affected by this tragic news.

‘We would like to respect the family’s privacy at this incredibly painful time.

‘We are assisting the relevant authorities with their investigation to establish the facts and we will not be making any further comment at this time.’

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